diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index de5069c7b..86b757103 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ def write_json_file(obj, fn):
 if sys.version_info >= (2, 7):
     def find_xpath_attr(node, xpath, key, val=None):
         """ Find the xpath xpath[@key=val] """
-        assert re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z-]+$', key)
+        assert re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z_-]+$', key)
         if val:
             assert re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9@\s:._-]*$', val)
         expr = xpath + ('[@%s]' % key if val is None else "[@%s='%s']" % (key, val))