diff --git a/mode/tal.py b/mode/tal.py
index 3a93034..213ec68 100644
--- a/mode/tal.py
+++ b/mode/tal.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import re
 class TalGrammar(Grammar):
     rules = [
         PatternRule('spaces', '[ \t]+'),
-        RegionRule('comment', r'\(', Grammar, '\)'),
+        RegionRule('comment', r'\((?:[ \t]|$)', Grammar, '(?:^|[ \t])\)'),
         PatternRule('delimiter', r'[\[\]{}]'),
         PatternRule('tal.inst', r'(BRK|LIT|INC|POP|DUP|NIP|SWP|OVR|ROT|EQU|NEQ|GTH|LTH|JMP|JCN|JSR|STH|LDZ|STZ|LDR|STR|LDA|STA|DEI|DEO|ADD|SUB|MUL|DIV|AND|ORA|EOR|SFT)2?k?r?'), # instructions
         PatternRule('tal.defmacro', r'%[^ \t\n]+'), # macro-define