diff --git a/Lib/importlib/metadata.py b/Lib/importlib/metadata.py
index 9d2285cb4d46dd..c8d533c5c2b320 100644
--- a/Lib/importlib/metadata.py
+++ b/Lib/importlib/metadata.py
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ class EntryPoint(
 
     pattern = re.compile(
         r'(?P<module>[\w.]+)\s*'
-        r'(:\s*(?P<attr>[\w.]+))?\s*'
-        r'(?P<extras>\[.*\])?\s*$'
+        r'(:\s*(?P<attr>[\w.]+)\s*)?'
+        r'((?P<extras>\[.*\])\s*)?$'
         )
     """
     A regular expression describing the syntax for an entry point,
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-01-22-14-49-10.bpo-46474.eKQhvx.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-01-22-14-49-10.bpo-46474.eKQhvx.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..156b7de4f67877
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2022-01-22-14-49-10.bpo-46474.eKQhvx.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+In ``importlib.metadata.EntryPoint.pattern``, avoid potential REDoS by
+limiting ambiguity in consecutive whitespace.