diff --git a/assets/js/match_query.js b/assets/js/match_query.js
index 12c651ae..618ddcb8 100644
--- a/assets/js/match_query.js
+++ b/assets/js/match_query.js
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ const tokenList = [
         ['not_op', /^\s*NOT(?:\s+|(?=\())/],
         ['not_op', /^\s*[!-]\s*/],
         ['space', /^\s+/],
-        ['word', /^(?:[^\s,()^~]|\\[\s,()^~])+/],
-        ['word', /^(?:[^\s,()]|\\[\s,()])+/]
+        ['word', /^(?:\\[\s,()^~]|[^\s,()^~])+/],
+        ['word', /^(?:\\[\s,()]|[^\s,()])+/]
       ],
       numberFields = ['id', 'width', 'height', 'aspect_ratio',
         'comment_count', 'score', 'upvotes', 'downvotes',