diff --git a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/daemon/impl/analysis/HighlightUtil.java b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/daemon/impl/analysis/HighlightUtil.java
index 140b8f92e90e..29828ae2dc5f 100644
--- a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/daemon/impl/analysis/HighlightUtil.java
+++ b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/daemon/impl/analysis/HighlightUtil.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2000-2011 JetBrains s.r.o.
+ * Copyright 2000-2012 JetBrains s.r.o.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -955,7 +955,11 @@ public class HighlightUtil {
       return null;
     }
     else if (type == JavaTokenType.CHARACTER_LITERAL) {
-      if (value == null) {
+      // todo[r.sh] clean this mess up
+      if (value != null) {
+        if (!StringUtil.endsWithChar(text, '\'')) return JavaErrorMessages.message("unclosed.char.literal");
+      }
+      else {
         if (!StringUtil.startsWithChar(text, '\'')) return null;
         if (StringUtil.endsWithChar(text, '\'')) {
           if (text.length() == 1) return JavaErrorMessages.message("illegal.line.end.in.character.literal");
diff --git a/java/java-psi-impl/src/messages/JavaErrorMessages.properties b/java/java-psi-impl/src/messages/JavaErrorMessages.properties
index 1c83fe4b3480..1dc16d9d3331 100644
--- a/java/java-psi-impl/src/messages/JavaErrorMessages.properties
+++ b/java/java-psi-impl/src/messages/JavaErrorMessages.properties
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ illegal.escape.character.in.character.literal=Illegal escape character in charac
 too.many.characters.in.character.literal=Too many characters in character literal
 empty.character.literal=Empty character literal
 illegal.line.end.in.string.literal=Illegal line end in string literal
+unclosed.char.literal=Unclosed character literal
 illegal.escape.character.in.string.literal=Illegal escape character in string literal
 floating.point.number.too.large=Floating point number too large
 floating.point.number.too.small=Floating point number too small
diff --git a/java/java-tests/testData/codeInsight/daemonCodeAnalyzer/advHighlighting/StringLiterals.java b/java/java-tests/testData/codeInsight/daemonCodeAnalyzer/advHighlighting/StringLiterals.java
index e28b1203f9ac..50f7e9d02eb0 100644
--- a/java/java-tests/testData/codeInsight/daemonCodeAnalyzer/advHighlighting/StringLiterals.java
+++ b/java/java-tests/testData/codeInsight/daemonCodeAnalyzer/advHighlighting/StringLiterals.java
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2000-2012 JetBrains s.r.o.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
 // string literal
 public class a {
   char c1 =  <error descr="Empty character literal">''</error>;
@@ -8,7 +24,8 @@ public class a {
 
   char[] cA = new char[] { 'd','\b','\f','\n','\r'
              ,'\t','"','\\',' ','\u1234','\uFFFF'
-             , '\7', '\77', '\345', '\0'};
+             , '\7', '\77', '\345', '\0', <error descr="Unclosed character literal">'x</error>
+  };
 
   String s1 =  <error descr="Illegal escape character in string literal">"\xd"</error>;
   String s11=  <error descr="Illegal escape character in string literal">"\udX"</error>;
@@ -29,5 +46,7 @@ public class a {
      );
   }
 
-  
+  String[] s = {
+    <error descr="Illegal line end in string literal">"unclosed</error>
+  };
 }