diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/php/php.js b/lib/ace/mode/php/php.js
index a1abc609..ed23f641 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/php/php.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/php/php.js
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
             },
             {
                 value: PHP.Constants.T_VARIABLE,
-                re: /^\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*/
+                re: /^\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*/
             },
             {
                 value: PHP.Constants.T_WHITESPACE,
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
                         return result;
                     }
 
-                    var match = result.match( /(?:[^\\]|\\.)*[^\\]\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*/g );
+                    var match = result.match( /(?:[^\\]|\\.)*[^\\]\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*/g );
                     if ( match !== null ) {
                         // string has a variable
 
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
 
                             }
 
-                            match = result.match(/^\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*/);
+                            match = result.match(/^\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*/);
 
 
 
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
 
                                 result = result.substring( match[ 0 ].length );
 
-                                match = result.match(/^(\-\>)\s*([a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*)\s*(\()/);
+                                match = result.match(/^(\-\>)\s*([a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*)\s*(\()/);
 
                                 if ( match !== null ) {
 
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
                             if ( curlyOpen > 0) {
                                 re = /^([^\\\$"{}\]\)]|\\.)+/g;
                             } else {
-                                re = /^([^\\\$"{]|\\.|{[^\$]|\$(?=[^a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff]))+/g;;
+                                re = /^([^\\\$"{]|\\.|{[^\$]|\$(?=[^a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff]))+/g;;
                             }
 
                             while(( match = result.match( re )) !== null ) {
@@ -756,7 +756,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
 
                             if (len === result.length) {
                                 //  nothing has been found yet
-                                if ((match =  result.match( /^(([^\\]|\\.)*?[^\\]\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*)/g )) !== null) {
+                                if ((match =  result.match( /^(([^\\]|\\.)*?[^\\]\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*)/g )) !== null) {
                                     return;
                                 }
                             }
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ PHP.Lexer = function( src, ini ) {
             },
             {
                 value: PHP.Constants.T_STRING,
-                re: /^[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*/
+                re: /^[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*/
             },
             {
                 value: -1,
diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js
index d0419aca..ca591d1b 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/php_highlight_rules.js
@@ -969,11 +969,11 @@ var PhpLangHighlightRules = function() {
                     else if (value == "debugger")
                         return "invalid.deprecated";
                     else
-                        if(value.match(/^(\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*|self|parent)$/))
+                        if(value.match(/^(\$[a-zA-Z_\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*|self|parent)$/))
                             return "variable";
                         return "identifier";
                 },
-                regex : "[a-zA-Z_$\x7f-\xff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]*\\b"
+                regex : /[a-zA-Z_$\x7f-\uffff][a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\uffff]*/
             }, {
                 onMatch : function(value, currentSate, state) {
                     value = value.substr(3);