diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/velocity_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/velocity_highlight_rules.js
index 07af2f92..9930d565 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/velocity_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/velocity_highlight_rules.js
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ var VelocityHighlightRules = function() {
                 next : "style"
             }, {
                 token : "meta.tag", // opening tag
-                regex : "<\\/?(?:[a-z])",
+                regex : "<\\/?(?=[a-z])",
                 next : "tag"
             }, {
                 token : "comment",