diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 35a86ae93..0382ad6e0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
 - If fish_mode_prompt exists, vi-mode will only execute it on mode-switch instead of the entire prompt. This should make it much more responsive with slow prompts (#5783).
 - The path-component bindings (like ctrl-w) now also stop at ":" and "@" because those are used to denote user and host in ssh-likes (#5841).
 - `read` no longer keeps a history, making it suitable for operations that shouldn't end up there, like password entry (#5904).
+- When syntax highlighting a string with an unclosed quote, only the quote itself will be shown as an error, instead of the whole argument.
 
 ### For distributors and developers
 - The autotools-based build system and legacy Xcode build systems have been removed, leaving only the CMake build system. All distributors and developers must migrate to the CMake build.
diff --git a/src/fish_tests.cpp b/src/fish_tests.cpp
index 0d531aad1..ebaa42f2c 100644
--- a/src/fish_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/fish_tests.cpp
@@ -4474,7 +4474,16 @@ static void test_highlighting() {
 
     highlight_tests.push_back({
         {L"echo", highlight_role_t::command},
-        {L"'single_quote", highlight_role_t::error},
+        {L"'", highlight_role_t::error},
+        {L"single_quote", highlight_role_t::quote},
+        {L"$stuff", highlight_role_t::quote},
+    });
+
+    highlight_tests.push_back({
+        {L"echo", highlight_role_t::command},
+        {L"\"", highlight_role_t::error},
+        {L"double_quote", highlight_role_t::quote},
+        {L"$stuff", highlight_role_t::operat},
     });
 
     highlight_tests.push_back({
diff --git a/src/highlight.cpp b/src/highlight.cpp
index a79a17b4c..3149f97aa 100644
--- a/src/highlight.cpp
+++ b/src/highlight.cpp
@@ -537,6 +537,7 @@ static void color_string_internal(const wcstring &buffstr, highlight_spec_t base
     }
 
     enum { e_unquoted, e_single_quoted, e_double_quoted } mode = e_unquoted;
+    maybe_t<size_t> unclosed_quote_offset;
     int bracket_count = 0;
     for (size_t in_pos = 0; in_pos < buff_len; in_pos++) {
         const wchar_t c = buffstr.at(in_pos);
@@ -671,11 +672,13 @@ static void color_string_internal(const wcstring &buffstr, highlight_spec_t base
                         }
                         case L'\'': {
                             colors[in_pos] = highlight_role_t::quote;
+                            unclosed_quote_offset = in_pos;
                             mode = e_single_quoted;
                             break;
                         }
                         case L'\"': {
                             colors[in_pos] = highlight_role_t::quote;
+                            unclosed_quote_offset = in_pos;
                             mode = e_double_quoted;
                             break;
                         }
@@ -700,6 +703,7 @@ static void color_string_internal(const wcstring &buffstr, highlight_spec_t base
                         }
                     }
                 } else if (c == L'\'') {
+                    unclosed_quote_offset = none();
                     mode = e_unquoted;
                 }
                 break;
@@ -713,6 +717,7 @@ static void color_string_internal(const wcstring &buffstr, highlight_spec_t base
                 }
                 switch (c) {
                     case L'"': {
+                        unclosed_quote_offset = none();
                         mode = e_unquoted;
                         break;
                     }
@@ -743,6 +748,11 @@ static void color_string_internal(const wcstring &buffstr, highlight_spec_t base
             }
         }
     }
+
+    // Error on unclosed quotes.
+    if (unclosed_quote_offset) {
+        colors[*unclosed_quote_offset] = highlight_role_t::error;
+    }
 }
 
 /// Syntax highlighter helper.
@@ -793,7 +803,9 @@ class highlighter_t {
           working_directory(std::move(wd)),
           color_array(str.size()) {
         // Parse the tree.
-        parse_tree_from_string(buff, parse_flag_continue_after_error | parse_flag_include_comments,
+        parse_tree_from_string(buff,
+                               parse_flag_continue_after_error | parse_flag_include_comments |
+                                   parse_flag_accept_incomplete_tokens,
                                &this->parse_tree, NULL);
     }