diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js
index dc332fa6..58919be7 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js
@@ -77,9 +77,9 @@ var MarkdownHighlightRules = function() {
             regex: "^\\-+(?=\\s*$)"
         }, { // header
             token : function(value) {
-                return "markup.heading." + value.length;
+                return "markup.heading." + value.match(/#/g).length;
             },
-            regex : "^#{1,6}"
+            regex : "^#{1,6}.+$"
         }, github_embed("(?:javascript|js)", "js-"),
            github_embed("xml", "xml-"),
            github_embed("html", "html-"),