1 files changed, 8 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/src/syntax.c b/src/syntax.c
index 9ead7e64346..f396b24e087 100644
--- a/src/syntax.c
+++ b/src/syntax.c
@@ -1285,21 +1285,25 @@ skip_chars (forwardp, syntaxp, string, lim)
                   {
                     int savepos = pos;
                     DEC_POS (pos);
+                    UPDATE_SYNTAX_TABLE_BACKWARD (pos);
                     if (!fastmap[(int) SYNTAX (FETCH_CHAR (pos))])
                       {
                         pos = savepos;
                         break;
                       }
-                    UPDATE_SYNTAX_TABLE_BACKWARD (pos - 1);
                   }
               }
             else
               {
-                while (pos > XINT (lim)
-                       && fastmap[(int) SYNTAX (FETCH_BYTE (pos - 1))])
+                while (pos > XINT (lim))
                   {
                     pos--;
-                    UPDATE_SYNTAX_TABLE_BACKWARD (pos - 1);
+                    UPDATE_SYNTAX_TABLE_BACKWARD (pos);
+                    if (!fastmap[(int) SYNTAX (FETCH_BYTE (pos))])
+                      {
+                        pos++;
+                        break;
+                      }
                   }
               }
           }