diff --git a/src/add.c b/src/add.c
index 2863761..b26018e 100644
--- a/src/add.c
+++ b/src/add.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ static int add_main(void *ctx, struct apk_database *db, int argc, char **argv)
 			apk_blob_t b = APK_BLOB_STR(argv[i]);
 
 			apk_blob_pull_dep(&b, db, &dep);
-			if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(b)) {
+			if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(b) || b.len > 0) {
 				apk_error("'%s' is not a valid dependency, format is name(@tag)([<>=]version)",
 					  argv[i]);
 				return -1;
diff --git a/src/apk_blob.h b/src/apk_blob.h
index 55c21b7..55838ad 100644
--- a/src/apk_blob.h
+++ b/src/apk_blob.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #ifndef APK_BLOB_H
 #define APK_BLOB_H
 
+#include <ctype.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <openssl/evp.h>
 
@@ -73,6 +74,14 @@ static inline apk_blob_t APK_BLOB_STR(const char *str)
 	return ((apk_blob_t){strlen(str), (void *)(str)});
 }
 
+static inline apk_blob_t apk_blob_trim(apk_blob_t blob)
+{
+	apk_blob_t b = blob;
+	while (b.len > 0 && isspace(b.ptr[b.len-1]))
+		b.len--;
+	return b;
+}
+
 char *apk_blob_cstr(apk_blob_t str);
 int apk_blob_spn(apk_blob_t blob, const char *accept, apk_blob_t *l, apk_blob_t *r);
 int apk_blob_cspn(apk_blob_t blob, const char *reject, apk_blob_t *l, apk_blob_t *r);
@@ -90,6 +99,11 @@ static inline void apk_blob_checksum(apk_blob_t b, const EVP_MD *md, struct apk_
 	csum->type = EVP_MD_size(md);
 	EVP_Digest(b.ptr, b.len, csum->data, NULL, md, NULL);
 }
+static inline char *apk_blob_chr(apk_blob_t b, unsigned char ch)
+{
+	return memchr(b.ptr, ch, b.len);
+}
+
 static inline const int apk_checksum_compare(const struct apk_checksum *a,
 					     const struct apk_checksum *b)
 {
diff --git a/src/apk_database.h b/src/apk_database.h
index c72a946..485afbe 100644
--- a/src/apk_database.h
+++ b/src/apk_database.h
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ struct apk_database {
 	int missing_tags : 1;
 	int compat_newfeatures : 1;
 	int compat_notinstallable : 1;
+	int compat_old_world : 1;
 
 	struct apk_dependency_array *world;
 	struct apk_string_array *protected_paths;
diff --git a/src/apk_package.h b/src/apk_package.h
index a241a67..4fc6910 100644
--- a/src/apk_package.h
+++ b/src/apk_package.h
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ void apk_blob_pull_dep(apk_blob_t *from, struct apk_database *, struct apk_depen
 void apk_blob_pull_deps(apk_blob_t *from, struct apk_database *, struct apk_dependency_array **);
 
 int apk_deps_write(struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency_array *deps,
-		   struct apk_ostream *os);
+		   struct apk_ostream *os, apk_blob_t separator);
 
 int apk_deps_add(struct apk_dependency_array **depends,
 		 struct apk_dependency *dep);
diff --git a/src/database.c b/src/database.c
index e3c10c5..57c9009 100644
--- a/src/database.c
+++ b/src/database.c
@@ -917,6 +917,9 @@ static int apk_db_read_state(struct apk_database *db, int flags)
 		blob = apk_blob_from_file(db->root_fd, apk_world_file);
 		if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(blob))
 			return -ENOENT;
+		blob = apk_blob_trim(blob);
+		if (apk_blob_chr(blob, ' '))
+			db->compat_old_world = 1;
 		apk_blob_pull_deps(&blob, db, &db->world);
 		free(blob.ptr);
 	}
@@ -1312,10 +1315,11 @@ int apk_db_open(struct apk_database *db, struct apk_db_options *dbopts)
 		goto ret_r;
 	}
 
-	for (i = 0; i < db->num_repo_tags; i++) {
+	/* repository id 0 is the no-tag repo */
+	for (i = 1; i < db->num_repo_tags; i++) {
 		if (!db->repo_tags[i].allowed_repos) {
-			apk_warning("Repository tag '" BLOB_FMT "' used in world is no longer available",
-				    BLOB_PRINTF(*db->repo_tags[i].name));
+			apk_warning("Repository tag (%d) '" BLOB_FMT "' used in world is no longer available",
+				    i, BLOB_PRINTF(*db->repo_tags[i].name));
 			db->missing_tags = 1;
 		}
 	}
@@ -1364,7 +1368,7 @@ int apk_db_write_config(struct apk_database *db)
 	if (os == NULL)
 		return -1;
 
-	apk_deps_write(db, db->world, os);
+	apk_deps_write(db, db->world, os, APK_BLOB_PTR_LEN(db->compat_old_world ? " " : "\n", 1));
 	os->write(os, "\n", 1);
 	r = os->close(os);
 	if (r < 0)
diff --git a/src/info.c b/src/info.c
index 25731cc..28ce855 100644
--- a/src/info.c
+++ b/src/info.c
@@ -75,7 +75,11 @@ static int info_exists(struct info_ctx *ctx, struct apk_database *db,
 
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
 		apk_blob_t b = APK_BLOB_STR(argv[i]);
+
 		apk_blob_pull_dep(&b, db, &dep);
+		if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(b) || b.len > 0)
+			continue;
+
 		name = dep.name;
 		if (name == NULL)
 			continue;
@@ -131,7 +135,7 @@ static int info_who_owns(struct info_ctx *ctx, struct apk_database *db,
 		struct apk_ostream *os;
 
 		os = apk_ostream_to_fd(STDOUT_FILENO);
-		apk_deps_write(db, deps, os);
+		apk_deps_write(db, deps, os, APK_BLOB_PTR_LEN(" ", 1));
 		os->write(os, "\n", 1);
 		os->close(os);
 	}
diff --git a/src/lua-apk.c b/src/lua-apk.c
index e41e785..6fbd1cf 100644
--- a/src/lua-apk.c
+++ b/src/lua-apk.c
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ static int Papk_exists(lua_State *L)
 	apk_blob_t blob = APK_BLOB_STR(depstr);
 	apk_blob_pull_dep(&blob, db, &dep);
 
-	if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(blob))
+	if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(blob) || b.len > 0)
 		goto ret_nil;
 
 	name = dep.name;
diff --git a/src/package.c b/src/package.c
index 97a45c6..1cd85dd 100644
--- a/src/package.c
+++ b/src/package.c
@@ -189,27 +189,36 @@ void apk_deps_del(struct apk_dependency_array **pdeps,
 	}
 }
 
-struct parse_depend_ctx {
-	struct apk_database *db;
-	struct apk_dependency_array **depends;
-};
-
 void apk_blob_pull_dep(apk_blob_t *b, struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency *dep)
 {
 	struct apk_name *name;
-	apk_blob_t bname, bop, bver = APK_BLOB_NULL, btag;
+	apk_blob_t bdep, bname, bop, bver = APK_BLOB_NULL, btag;
 	int mask = APK_DEPMASK_REQUIRE, optional = 0, tag = 0;
-	size_t len;
 
-	/* [!]name[<,<=,=,>=,>]ver */
+	/* [!]name[<,<=,=,>=,>,><]ver */
 	if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(*b))
 		goto fail;
-	if (b->ptr[0] == '!') {
-		b->ptr++;
-		b->len--;
+
+	/* grap one token */
+	if (!apk_blob_cspn(*b, " \n", &bdep, NULL))
+		bdep = *b;
+	b->ptr += bdep.len;
+	b->len -= bdep.len;
+
+	/* skip also all separator chars */
+	if (!apk_blob_spn(*b, " \n", NULL, b)) {
+		b->ptr += b->len;
+		b->len = 0;
+	}
+
+	/* parse the version */
+	if (bdep.ptr[0] == '!') {
+		bdep.ptr++;
+		bdep.len--;
 		optional = 1;
 	}
-	if (apk_blob_cspn(*b, "<>= ", &bname, &bop)) {
+
+	if (apk_blob_cspn(bdep, "<>=", &bname, &bop)) {
 		int i;
 
 		if (mask == 0)
@@ -234,17 +243,15 @@ void apk_blob_pull_dep(apk_blob_t *b, struct apk_database *db, struct apk_depend
 		    !apk_version_validate(bver))
 			goto fail;
 	} else {
-		bname = *b;
+		bname = bdep;
 		bop = APK_BLOB_NULL;
 		bver = APK_BLOB_NULL;
 	}
-	len = bname.len + bop.len + bver.len;
-	b->ptr += len;
-	b->len -= len;
 
 	if (apk_blob_split(bname, APK_BLOB_STR("@"), &bname, &btag))
 		tag = apk_db_get_tag_id(db, btag);
 
+	/* convert to apk_dependency */
 	name = apk_db_get_name(db, bname);
 	if (name == NULL)
 		goto fail;
@@ -265,6 +272,19 @@ fail:
 	*b = APK_BLOB_NULL;
 }
 
+void apk_blob_pull_deps(apk_blob_t *b, struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency_array **deps)
+{
+	struct apk_dependency dep;
+
+	while (b->len > 0) {
+		apk_blob_pull_dep(b, db, &dep);
+		if (APK_BLOB_IS_NULL(*b) || dep.name == NULL)
+			break;
+
+		*apk_dependency_array_add(deps) = dep;
+	}
+}
+
 void apk_dep_from_pkg(struct apk_dependency *dep, struct apk_database *db,
 		      struct apk_package *pkg)
 {
@@ -281,26 +301,6 @@ void apk_dep_from_pkg(struct apk_dependency *dep, struct apk_database *db,
 	};
 }
 
-static int parse_depend(void *ctx, apk_blob_t blob)
-{
-	struct parse_depend_ctx *pctx = (struct parse_depend_ctx *) ctx;
-	struct apk_dependency *dep, p;
-
-	if (blob.len == 0)
-		return 0;
-
-	apk_blob_pull_dep(&blob, pctx->db, &p);
-	if (p.name == NULL || blob.len != 0)
-		return -1;
-
-	dep = apk_dependency_array_add(pctx->depends);
-	if (dep == NULL)
-		return -1;
-	*dep = p;
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int apk_dep_is_satisfied(struct apk_dependency *dep, struct apk_package *pkg)
 {
 	if (pkg == NULL)
@@ -322,16 +322,6 @@ int apk_dep_is_satisfied(struct apk_dependency *dep, struct apk_package *pkg)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void apk_blob_pull_deps(apk_blob_t *b, struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency_array **deps)
-{
-	struct parse_depend_ctx ctx = { db, deps };
-
-	if (b->len > 0 && b->ptr[b->len-1] == '\n')
-		b->len--;
-
-	apk_blob_for_each_segment(*b, " ", parse_depend, &ctx);
-}
-
 void apk_blob_push_dep(apk_blob_t *to, struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency *dep)
 {
 	int result_mask = dep->result_mask;
@@ -366,7 +356,7 @@ void apk_blob_push_deps(apk_blob_t *to, struct apk_database *db, struct apk_depe
 	}
 }
 
-int apk_deps_write(struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency_array *deps, struct apk_ostream *os)
+int apk_deps_write(struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency_array *deps, struct apk_ostream *os, apk_blob_t separator)
 {
 	apk_blob_t blob;
 	char tmp[256];
@@ -378,7 +368,7 @@ int apk_deps_write(struct apk_database *db, struct apk_dependency_array *deps, s
 	for (i = 0; i < deps->num; i++) {
 		blob = APK_BLOB_BUF(tmp);
 		if (i)
-			apk_blob_push_blob(&blob, APK_BLOB_PTR_LEN(" ", 1));
+			apk_blob_push_blob(&blob, separator);
 		apk_blob_push_dep(&blob, db, &deps->item[i]);
 
 		blob = apk_blob_pushed(APK_BLOB_BUF(tmp), blob);
@@ -1008,7 +998,7 @@ static int write_depends(struct apk_ostream *os, const char *field,
 
 	if (os->write(os, field, 2) != 2)
 		return -1;
-	r = apk_deps_write(NULL, deps, os);
+	r = apk_deps_write(NULL, deps, os, APK_BLOB_PTR_LEN(" ", 1));
 	if (r < 0)
 		return r;
 	if (os->write(os, "\n", 1) != 1)