diff --git a/tools/hicexplorer/hicBuildMatrix.xml b/tools/hicexplorer/hicBuildMatrix.xml
index 692c9bfea7b..c9d3dbcefb1 100644
--- a/tools/hicexplorer/hicBuildMatrix.xml
+++ b/tools/hicexplorer/hicBuildMatrix.xml
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@
             --restrictionCutFile '$restrictionCutFile'
 
             #if $restrictionSequence:
-                --restrictionSequence '$restrictionSequence'
+                --restrictionSequence $restrictionSequence
             #end if
             #if $danglingSequence:
-                --danglingSequence '$danglingSequence'
+                --danglingSequence $danglingSequence
             #end if
             #if $minDistance:
             --minDistance $minDistance
diff --git a/tools/hicexplorer/hicQuickQC.xml b/tools/hicexplorer/hicQuickQC.xml
index c883a614066..4691f235cf8 100644
--- a/tools/hicexplorer/hicQuickQC.xml
+++ b/tools/hicexplorer/hicQuickQC.xml
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@
             --restrictionCutFile '$restrictionCutFile'
             
             #if $restrictionSequence:
-                --restrictionSequence '$restrictionSequence'
+                --restrictionSequence $restrictionSequence
             #end if
 
             #if $danglingSequence:
-                --danglingSequence '$danglingSequence'
+                --danglingSequence $danglingSequence
             #end if
             --QCfolder ./QCfolder
 
diff --git a/tools/hicexplorer/macros.xml b/tools/hicexplorer/macros.xml
index 4ca866ef1aa..5e0c5e5230b 100644
--- a/tools/hicexplorer/macros.xml
+++ b/tools/hicexplorer/macros.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <macros>
     <token name="@THREADS@">\${GALAXY_SLOTS:-4}</token>
     <token name="@TOOL_VERSION@">3.7.5</token>
-    <token name="@VERSION_SUFFIX@">0</token>
+    <token name="@VERSION_SUFFIX@">1</token>
     <token name="@PROFILE@">23.0</token>
     <token name="@USE_RANGE@">
         #if $use_range.select_use_range == "yes_use_range":
@@ -48,14 +48,14 @@
     </xml>
 
     <xml name="restrictionCutFile">
-        <param argument="--restrictionCutFile" type="data" format="bed" optional="false" label="BED file with all restriction cut places" help="Should contaion only  mappable restriction sites. If given, the bins are set to match the restriction fragments
+        <param argument="--restrictionCutFile" type="data" format="bed" optional="false" label="BED file with all restriction cut places" help="Should contaion only mappable restriction sites. If given, the bins are set to match the restriction fragments
                 (i.e. the region between one restriction site and the next)." />
     </xml>
 
     <xml name="restrictionSequence">
         <param argument="--restrictionSequence" type="text" optional="false" label="Sequence of the restriction site" help="This is used to discard reads that end/start with such sequence and that are considered un-ligated fragments or
             &quot;dangling-ends&quot;. If not given, such statistics will not be available.">
-            <validator type="expression" message="Only alphabetic characters (a-z) are allowed.">value.isalpha()</validator>
+            <validator type="regex" message="Only space separated nucleotide sequences are allowed.">^(?:[ATCGatcg]+(?:\s[ATCGatcg]+)*)?$</validator>
         </param>
     </xml>
     <xml name="danglingSequence">
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
                     This information is easily found on the description of the restriction enzyme.
                     The dangling sequence is used to classify and report reads whose 5’ end starts with such sequence as dangling-end reads.
                     A significant portion of dangling-end reads in a sample are indicative of a problem with the re-ligation step of the protocol. ">
-            <validator type="expression" message="Only alphabetic characters (a-z) are allowed.">value.isalpha()</validator>
+            <validator type="regex" message="Only space separated nucleotide sequences are allowed.">^(?:[ATCGatcg]+(?:\s[ATCGatcg]+)*)?$</validator>
         </param>
     </xml>