diff --git a/lib/ace/search_highlight.js b/lib/ace/search_highlight.js
index 8f2f5102..64cd43b7 100644
--- a/lib/ace/search_highlight.js
+++ b/lib/ace/search_highlight.js
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ var SearchHighlight = function(regExp, clazz, type) {
 };
 
 (function() {
+    // needed to prevent long lines from freezing the browser
+    this.MAX_RANGES = 500;
+    
     this.setRegexp = function(regExp) {
         if (this.regExp+"" == regExp+"")
             return;
@@ -58,6 +61,8 @@ var SearchHighlight = function(regExp, clazz, type) {
             var ranges = this.cache[i];
             if (ranges == null) {
                 ranges = lang.getMatchOffsets(session.getLine(i), this.regExp);
+                if (ranges.length > this.MAX_RANGES)
+                    ranges = ranges.slice(0, this.MAX_RANGES);
                 ranges = ranges.map(function(match) {
                     return new Range(i, match.offset, i, match.offset + match.length);
                 });