diff --git a/highlight.c b/highlight.c
index cea56bf3f..a6178313e 100644
--- a/highlight.c
+++ b/highlight.c
@@ -884,7 +884,7 @@ void highlight_shell( wchar_t * buff,
 		wchar_t *token;
 		
 		parse_util_token_extent( buff, pos, &tok_begin, &tok_end, 0, 0 );
-		if( tok_begin )
+		if( tok_begin && tok_end )
 		{
 			token = halloc_wcsndup( context, tok_begin, tok_end-tok_begin );
 			
diff --git a/parse_util.c b/parse_util.c
index f413f7518..551900735 100644
--- a/parse_util.c
+++ b/parse_util.c
@@ -180,27 +180,27 @@ void parse_util_cmdsubst_extent( const wchar_t *buff,
 {
 	wchar_t *begin, *end;
 	wchar_t *pos;
+	const wchar_t *cursor = buff + cursor_pos;
 	
 	CHECK( buff, );
 
 	if( a )
-		*a=0;
+		*a = (wchar_t *)buff;
 	if( b )
-		*b = 0;
-
+		*b = (wchar_t *)buff+wcslen(buff);
+	
 	pos = (wchar_t *)buff;
 	
 	while( 1 )
 	{
-		int bc, ec;
-		
 		if( parse_util_locate_cmdsubst( pos,
 										&begin,
 										&end,
 										1 ) <= 0)
 		{
-			begin=(wchar_t *)buff;
-			end = (wchar_t *)buff + wcslen(buff);
+			/*
+			  No subshell found
+			*/
 			break;
 		}
 
@@ -209,12 +209,13 @@ void parse_util_cmdsubst_extent( const wchar_t *buff,
 			end = (wchar_t *)buff + wcslen(buff);
 		}
 
-		bc = begin-buff;
-		ec = end-buff;
-		
-		if(( bc < cursor_pos ) && (ec >= cursor_pos) )
+		if(( begin < cursor ) && (end >= cursor) )
 		{
 			begin++;
+			if( a )
+				*a = begin;
+			if( b )
+				*b = end;
 			break;
 		}
 
@@ -225,10 +226,7 @@ void parse_util_cmdsubst_extent( const wchar_t *buff,
 		
 		pos = end+1;
 	}
-	if( a )
-		*a = begin;
-	if( b )
-		*b = end;
+	
 }
 
 /**
@@ -359,21 +357,21 @@ void parse_util_token_extent( const wchar_t *buff,
 
 	if( !end || !begin )
 		return;
-
+	
 	pos = cursor_pos - (begin - buff);
-
+	
 	a = (wchar_t *)buff + pos;
 	b = a;
 	pa = (wchar_t *)buff + pos;
 	pb = pa;
-
+	
 	assert( begin >= buff );
 	assert( begin <= (buff+wcslen(buff) ) );
 	assert( end >= begin );
 	assert( end <= (buff+wcslen(buff) ) );
-
+	
 	buffcpy = wcsndup( begin, end-begin );
-
+	
 	if( !buffcpy )
 	{
 		DIE_MEM();
diff --git a/parse_util.h b/parse_util.h
index 9120ca856..23b9b88f6 100644
--- a/parse_util.h
+++ b/parse_util.h
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@ int parse_util_locate_cmdsubst( const wchar_t *in,
 								int flags );
 
 /**
-   Find the beginning and end of the command substitution under the cursor
+   Find the beginning and end of the command substitution under the
+   cursor. If no subshell is found, the entire string is returned. If
+   the current command substitution is not ended, i.e. the closing
+   parenthesis is missing, then the string from the beginning of the
+   substitution to the end of the string is returned.
 
    \param buff the string to search for subshells
    \param cursor_pos the position of the cursor
diff --git a/parser.c b/parser.c
index 7700367dd..85851c9f0 100644
--- a/parser.c
+++ b/parser.c
@@ -261,14 +261,17 @@ The fish parser. Contains functions for parsing code.
 */
 struct block_lookup_entry
 {
+
 	/**
 	   The block type id. The legal values are defined in parser.h.
 	*/
 	int type;
+
 	/**
 	   The name of the builtin that creates this type of block, if any. 
 	*/
 	const wchar_t *name;
+	
 	/**
 	   A description of this block type
 	*/
@@ -3045,10 +3048,11 @@ int parser_test( const  wchar_t * buff,
 							error( SYNTAX_ERROR,
 								   tok_get_pos( &tok ),
 								   ILLEGAL_CMD_ERR_MSG,
-								   cmd );
+								   tok_last( &tok ) );
 							
 							print_errors( out, prefix );
-						}						
+						}
+						break;
 					}
 					
 					if( needs_cmd )
@@ -3257,6 +3261,7 @@ int parser_test( const  wchar_t * buff,
 								sb_printf( out, L"%s", h );
 						}
 					}
+					
 				}
 				else
 				{