diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/html_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/html_highlight_rules.js
index 6d2221e3..24165fc2 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/html_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/html_highlight_rules.js
@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ var HtmlHighlightRules = function() {
             merge : true,
             regex : "<\\!--",
             next : "comment"
+        }, {
+            token : "xml_pe",
+            regex : "<\\!.*?>"
         }, {
             token : "meta.tag",
             regex : "<(?=\s*script\\b)",
@@ -77,6 +80,9 @@ var HtmlHighlightRules = function() {
         }, {
             token : "text",
             regex : "\\s+"
+        }, {
+            token : "constant.character.entity",
+            regex : "(?:&#[0-9]+;)|(?:&#x[0-9a-fA-F]+;)|(?:&[a-zA-Z0-9_:\\.-]+;)"
         }, {
             token : "text",
             regex : "[^<]+"
diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js
index 12cfd7b3..42938b90 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ var XmlHighlightRules = function() {
             merge : true,
             regex : "<\\!--",
             next : "comment"
+        }, {
+            token : "xml_pe",
+            regex : "<\\!.*?>"
         }, {
             token : "meta.tag", // opening tag
             regex : "<\\/?",
@@ -66,6 +69,9 @@ var XmlHighlightRules = function() {
         }, {
             token : "text",
             regex : "\\s+"
+        }, {
+            token : "constant.character.entity",
+            regex : "(?:&#[0-9]+;)|(?:&#x[0-9a-fA-F]+;)|(?:&[a-zA-Z0-9_:\\.-]+;)"
         }, {
             token : "text",
             regex : "[^<]+"
diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/xml_util.js b/lib/ace/mode/xml_util.js
index 63e6b1b7..b58df44f 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/xml_util.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/xml_util.js
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ exports.tag = function(states, name, nextState) {
             }
         },        
         merge : true,
-        regex : "[-_a-zA-Z0-9:!]+",
+        regex : "[-_a-zA-Z0-9:]+",
         next : name + "_embed_attribute_list" 
     }, {
         token: "empty",