diff --git a/Zend/zend_highlight.c b/Zend/zend_highlight.c
index fbcd63c6189..fd9d2dd4114 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_highlight.c
+++ b/Zend/zend_highlight.c
@@ -137,14 +137,12 @@ ZEND_API void zend_highlight(zend_syntax_highlighter_ini *syntax_highlighter_ini
 				continue;
 				break;
 			default:
-				if (token.type==0) {
+				if (in_string) {
+					next_color = syntax_highlighter_ini->highlight_string;
+				} else if (token.type == 0) {
 					next_color = syntax_highlighter_ini->highlight_keyword;
 				} else {
-					if (in_string) {
-						next_color = syntax_highlighter_ini->highlight_string;
-					} else {
-						next_color = syntax_highlighter_ini->highlight_default;
-					}
+					next_color = syntax_highlighter_ini->highlight_default;
 				}
 				break;
 		}
diff --git a/tests/strings/bug26703.phpt b/tests/strings/bug26703.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c86e1759d5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/strings/bug26703.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+--TEST--
+Bug #26703 (Certain characters inside strings incorrectly treated as keywords)
+--INI--
+highlight.string=#DD0000
+highlight.comment=#FF9900
+highlight.keyword=#007700
+highlight.bg=#FFFFFF
+highlight.default=#0000BB
+highlight.html=#000000
+--FILE--
+<?php
+	highlight_string('<?php echo "foo[] $a \n"; ?>');
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+<code><font color="#000000">
+<font color="#0000BB">&lt;?php </font><font color="#007700">echo </font><font color="#DD0000">"foo[] $a \n"</font><font color="#007700">; </font><font color="#0000BB">?&gt;</font>
+</font>
+</code>