diff --git a/lib/liquid/block_body.rb b/lib/liquid/block_body.rb
index ec40e2129..816c2bc62 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/block_body.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/block_body.rb
@@ -246,10 +246,17 @@ def render_node(context, output, node)
     end
 
     def create_variable(token, parse_context)
-      if token =~ ContentOfVariable
-        markup = Regexp.last_match(1)
+      if token.end_with?("}}")
+        i = 2
+        i = 3 if token[i] == "-"
+        parse_end = token.length - 3
+        parse_end -= 1 if token[parse_end] == "-"
+        markup_end = parse_end - i + 1
+        markup = markup_end <= 0 ? "" : token.byteslice(i, markup_end)
+
         return Variable.new(markup, parse_context)
       end
+
       BlockBody.raise_missing_variable_terminator(token, parse_context)
     end