diff --git a/parser.cpp b/parser.cpp
index c6cbd9b50..93e068d78 100644
--- a/parser.cpp
+++ b/parser.cpp
@@ -3535,8 +3535,8 @@ int parser_t::test(const wchar_t *buff, int *block_level, wcstring *out, const w
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    err = 1;
-                    if (out)
+                    // Only print errors once
+                    if (out && ! err)
                     {
                         error(SYNTAX_ERROR,
                               tok_get_pos(&tok),
@@ -3546,6 +3546,7 @@ int parser_t::test(const wchar_t *buff, int *block_level, wcstring *out, const w
 
                         print_errors(*out, prefix);
                     }
+                    err = 1;
                 }
 
                 break;
diff --git a/tokenizer.cpp b/tokenizer.cpp
index 831197ee5..4521c164d 100644
--- a/tokenizer.cpp
+++ b/tokenizer.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ segments.
 */
 #define PARAN_ERROR _( L"Unexpected end of string, parenthesis do not match" )
 
+/**
+   Error string for mismatched square brackets
+*/
+#define SQUARE_BRACKET_ERROR _( L"Unexpected end of string, square brackets do not match" )
+
+
 /**
    Error string for invalid redirections
 */
@@ -237,7 +243,6 @@ static void read_string(tokenizer_t *tok)
 
     while (1)
     {
-
         if (!myal(*tok->buff))
         {
             if (*tok->buff == L'\\')
@@ -390,7 +395,19 @@ static void read_string(tokenizer_t *tok)
 
     if ((!tok->accept_unfinished) && (mode != mode_regular_text))
     {
-        TOK_CALL_ERROR(tok, TOK_UNTERMINATED_SUBSHELL, PARAN_ERROR);
+        switch (mode)
+        {
+            case mode_subshell:
+                TOK_CALL_ERROR(tok, TOK_UNTERMINATED_SUBSHELL, PARAN_ERROR);
+                break;
+            case mode_array_brackets:
+            case mode_array_brackets_and_subshell:
+                TOK_CALL_ERROR(tok, TOK_UNTERMINATED_SUBSHELL, SQUARE_BRACKET_ERROR); // TOK_UNTERMINATED_SUBSHELL is a lie but nobody actually looks at it
+                break;
+            default:
+                assert(0 && "Unexpected mode in read_string");
+                break;
+        }
         return;
     }