diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js
index 7d83a39e..e5146ae0 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/markdown_highlight_rules.js
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ var MarkdownHighlightRules = function() {
         }, {
             include : "basic", noEscape: true
         }, {
-            defaultToken : "markup.list"
+            defaultToken : "list" //do not use markup.list to allow stling leading `*` differntly
         } ],
 
         "blockquote" : [ { // BLockquotes only escape on blank lines.