Snippet not expanding unless there is a space before the insertion point

[Misty]

I've got this snippet:

#name : <xi:include ... parse="text" />
#key :xit>>
# --
<xi:include href="$1" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
parse="text" />$0

Most of the time, when I want to insert this snippet, the insertion
point would be at Z below:
<programlisting language="Java" role="JAVA">Z

However, at Z if I type xit>><tab>, it doesn't expand. If I put a
space before Z, it expands properly, and then I have to go back and
delete the space.

To be fair, I think it affects all snippets, and I'm not sure there is
a work-around, but if you can think of it, it would be great!