diff --git a/java/src/processing/mode/java/pdex/ErrorCheckerService.java b/java/src/processing/mode/java/pdex/ErrorCheckerService.java
index 9ba74312f..2797a4a29 100644
--- a/java/src/processing/mode/java/pdex/ErrorCheckerService.java
+++ b/java/src/processing/mode/java/pdex/ErrorCheckerService.java
@@ -1247,9 +1247,13 @@ public class ErrorCheckerService {
       "DefaultClass" : editor.getSketch().getName();
 
     // Check whether the code is being written in STATIC mode
-    String uncommented = PdePreprocessor.scrubComments(sourceAlt);
-
-    mode = PdePreprocessor.parseMode(uncommented);
+    try {
+      String uncommented = PdePreprocessor.scrubComments(sourceAlt);
+      mode = PdePreprocessor.parseMode(uncommented);
+    } catch (RuntimeException r) {
+      String uncommented = PdePreprocessor.scrubComments(sourceAlt + "*/");
+      mode = PdePreprocessor.parseMode(uncommented);
+    }
 
     StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();