diff --git a/common b/common
index 828563de..817c0039 100644
--- a/common
+++ b/common
@@ -58,9 +58,10 @@ do
     if $group
     then
 	# arg after -g
-	group_list=`sed -n <group -e 's/$/ /' -e "/^[0-9][0-9][0-9].* $r /"'{
-s/ .*//p
-}'`
+       group_list=$(sed -n < group \
+                       -e 's/#.*//' \
+                       -e 's/$/ /' \
+                       -e "/^[0-9][0-9][0-9].* $r /"'{ s/ .*//p }')
 	if [ -z "$group_list" ]
 	then
 	    echo "Group \"$r\" is empty or not defined?"