diff --git a/R/mic.R b/R/mic.R
index 3a46b3d8d..df1ef5071 100644
--- a/R/mic.R
+++ b/R/mic.R
@@ -197,8 +197,7 @@ as.mic <- function(x, na.rm = FALSE, keep_operators = "all") {
   x <- gsub("=<", "<=", x, fixed = TRUE)
   x <- gsub("=>", ">=", x, fixed = TRUE)
   # Remove leading == and =
-  x <- gsub("^==", "", x, fixed = TRUE)
-  x <- gsub("^=", "", x, fixed = TRUE)
+  x <- gsub("^=+", "", x)
   # dots without a leading zero must start with 0
   x <- gsub("([^0-9]|^)[.]", "\\10.", x, perl = TRUE)
   # values like "<=0.2560.512" should be 0.512