diff --git a/scripts/process-text-files.py b/scripts/process-text-files.py
index 82b4343..90b4d85 100644
--- a/scripts/process-text-files.py
+++ b/scripts/process-text-files.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class Cmd(jwutils.Cmd):
         require_lhs_pattern = None
         skip_short = None
         min_assignments = None
+        left_pad_match = 1
         if context is not None:
             if 'indent' in context:
                 indent = context['indent']
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ class Cmd(jwutils.Cmd):
                 pattern = context['pattern']
             if 'right-align-match' in context:
                 right_align_match = context['right-align-match']
+            if 'left-pad-match' in context:
+                left_pad_match = context['left-pad-match']
             if 'skip-lhs-pattern' in context:
                 skip_lhs_pattern = context['skip-lhs-pattern']
             if 'require-lhs-pattern' in context:
@@ -73,11 +76,25 @@ class Cmd(jwutils.Cmd):
             #slog(NOTICE, "split into", parts)
             if right_align_match > 0:
                 parts[1] = parts[1].rjust(right_align_match)
+            lhs = parts[0].rstrip().ljust(indent)
             if len(parts) > 2:
                 p2_stripped = parts[2].strip()
                 if len(p2_stripped) or len(parts) > 3:
                     parts[2] = ' ' + p2_stripped
-            r += parts[0].rstrip().ljust(indent) + ''.join(parts[1:]) + '\n'
+                if left_pad_match > 0:
+                    pad = ''
+                    #slog(NOTICE, "working off {} >{}<".format(left_pad_match, lhs[-left_pad_match:]))
+                    for c in lhs[-left_pad_match:]:
+                        if c != ' ':
+                            pad += ' '
+                    for c in parts[1]:
+                        if c != ' ':
+                            break
+                        if len(pad):
+                            pad = pad[:-1]
+                    #slog(NOTICE, "  pad for {}=>{}<".format(line, pad))
+                    lhs += pad
+            r += lhs + ''.join(parts[1:]) + '\n'
             assignments += 1
         if min_assignments is not None and assignments < min_assignments:
             return data
@@ -398,9 +415,11 @@ class CmdMkIndentEquals(Cmd):
         slog(NOTICE, "Beautifying", len(files), "makefiles:")
         context = dict()
         right_align_match = 2
+        left_pad_match = 1
         context["indent"] = args.equal_pos - right_align_match
         context["pattern"] = "([?+:]*=|::=)"
         context["right-align-match"] = right_align_match
+        context["left-pad-match"] = left_pad_match
         context["skip-lhs-pattern"] = "[^A-Za-z0-9_#    ]"
         context["require-lhs-pattern"] = "^[ #]*[A-Za-z0-9_]"
         context["skip-short"] = args.skip_short