diff --git a/common/content/buffer.js b/common/content/buffer.js
index ca8c175d..488c6508 100644
--- a/common/content/buffer.js
+++ b/common/content/buffer.js
@@ -1639,13 +1639,11 @@ const Buffer = Module("buffer", {
     options: function () {
         options.add(["nextpattern"],
             "Patterns to use when guessing the 'next' page in a document sequence",
-            "stringlist", UTF8("\\bnext\\b,^>$,^(>>|»)$,^(>|»),(>|»)$,\\bmore\\b"),
-            { validator: Option.validateXPath });
+            "stringlist", UTF8("'\\bnext\\b',^>$,^(>>|»)$,^(>|»),(>|»)$,'\\bmore\\b'"));
 
         options.add(["previouspattern"],
             "Patterns to use when guessing the 'previous' page in a document sequence",
-            "stringlist", UTF8("\\bprev|previous\\b,^<$,^(<<|«)$,^(<|«),(<|«)$"),
-            { validator: Option.validateXPath });
+            "stringlist", UTF8("'\\bprev|previous\\b',^<$,^(<<|«)$,^(<|«),(<|«)$"));
 
         options.add(["pageinfo", "pa"],
             "Desired info in the :pageinfo output",