diff --git a/share/fish.in b/share/fish.in
index 9418cbcf8..816771b3f 100644
--- a/share/fish.in
+++ b/share/fish.in
@@ -40,12 +40,14 @@ if test "$USER" = root
 	set path_list $path_list /sbin /usr/sbin /usr/local/sbin
 end
 
-for i in $path_list
-	set -l regex "^$i\(\|/*\)\$"
-	if not  printf "%s\n" $PATH|grep $regex >/dev/null
-		if test -d $i
-			set PATH $PATH $i
-		end
+# Make a regular expressin that matches any component in the PATH. A
+# trailing slash is ok. The sed call is to remove the last '\|'.  
+
+set -l path_regexp \\\((printf "^%s\\(\\|/\\)\$\\|" $PATH | sed -e "s/..\$//")\\\)
+
+for i in (printf "%s\n" $path_list|grep -v $path_regexp)
+	if test -d $i
+		set PATH $PATH $i
 	end
 end