diff --git a/phpBB/phpbb/db/tools.php b/phpBB/phpbb/db/tools.php
index 3d065ede8e..3b329b47bc 100644
--- a/phpBB/phpbb/db/tools.php
+++ b/phpBB/phpbb/db/tools.php
@@ -1996,7 +1996,7 @@ class tools
 
 				$columns = implode(',', $column_list);
 
-				$new_table_cols = trim(preg_replace('/' . $column_name . '[^,]+(?:,|$)/m', '', $new_table_cols));
+				$new_table_cols = trim(preg_replace('/' . $column_name . '\b[^,]+(?:,|$)/m', '', $new_table_cols));
 				if (substr($new_table_cols, -1) === ',')
 				{
 					// Remove the comma from the last entry again