diff --git a/core/modern/lexer/lexer.factor b/core/modern/lexer/lexer.factor
index 39151fd4d6..803ef6d06f 100644
--- a/core/modern/lexer/lexer.factor
+++ b/core/modern/lexer/lexer.factor
@@ -116,10 +116,17 @@ ERROR: unexpected-end n string ;
         n' >>n drop
     n' string' slice ch ;
 
+! rollback only n, other state is not rolled back
+:: with-lexer-rollback ( lexer quot -- )
+    lexer n>> :> n
+    lexer quot call lexer n >>n drop ; inline
+
 
 : merge-lex-til-whitespace ( lexer slice --  slice' )
     [ lex-til-whitespace drop 2nip ] dip merge-slices ;
 
+: peek-merge-til-whitespace ( lexer slice -- slice' )
+    '[ _ merge-lex-til-whitespace ] with-lexer-rollback ;
 
 :: slice-til-eol ( n string -- n'/f string slice/f ch/f )
     n [
diff --git a/core/modern/modern.factor b/core/modern/modern.factor
index 04c0e4864c..7eca27c0c1 100644
--- a/core/modern/modern.factor
+++ b/core/modern/modern.factor
@@ -452,7 +452,8 @@ ERROR: mismatched-terminator lexer slice ;
     ] if ;
 
 : gt-terminator ( lexer slice -- slice/f )
-    dup top-level-greater-than? [
+    2dup peek-merge-til-whitespace
+    top-level-greater-than? [
         2dup [ dup peek-tag ] dip delimiters-match? [
             nip terminator-literal make-tag-class-literal
         ] [
diff --git a/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor b/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor
index c70dfd550d..a784cc51d0 100644
--- a/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor
+++ b/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor
@@ -80,4 +80,6 @@ in: modern.out.tests
 { t } [ "!a" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
 
 { t } [ "->[ ]" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
-{ t } [ "abc>[ ]" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
\ No newline at end of file
+{ t } [ "abc>[ ]" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
+{ t } [ "CC>n" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
+{ t } [ "CC>CC" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test