diff --git a/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js b/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js
index dd3d2a28..ee6ef8cd 100644
--- a/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js
+++ b/lib/ace/mode/xml_highlight_rules.js
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ var XmlHighlightRules = function(normalize) {
             token : "constant.language.escape",
             regex : "(?:&#[0-9]+;)|(?:&#x[0-9a-fA-F]+;)|(?:&[a-zA-Z0-9_:\\.-]+;)"
         }, {
-            token : "invalid.illegal", regex : "&"
+            token : "text", regex : "&"
         }],
 
         string: [{