diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js
index 0c0557d6..f8d5e29e 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js
@@ -969,13 +969,11 @@ var PhpLangHighlightRules = function() {
                     else if (value == "debugger")
                         return "invalid.deprecated";
                     else
-                        if(value.match(/^(\$[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*|self|parent)$/))
+                        if(value.match(/^(\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*|self|parent)$/))
                             return "variable";
                         return "identifier";
                 },
-                // TODO: Unicode escape sequences
-                // TODO: Unicode identifiers
-                regex : "[a-zA-Z_$][a-zA-Z0-9_$]*\\b"
+                regex : "[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*\\b"
             }, {
                 onMatch : function(value, currentSate, state) {
                     value = value.substr(3);