diff --git a/src/librustdoc/html/static/js/search.js b/src/librustdoc/html/static/js/search.js
index 1e6c94d29ba47..358bc82b98137 100644
--- a/src/librustdoc/html/static/js/search.js
+++ b/src/librustdoc/html/static/js/search.js
@@ -325,10 +325,11 @@ function initSearch(rawSearchIndex) {
                 } else if (c === ":") { // If we allow paths ("str::string" for example).
                     if (!isPathStart(parserState)) {
                         break;
+                    } else if (foundExclamation) {
+                        throw new Error("`!` cannot be followed by `::`");
                     }
                     // Skip current ":".
                     parserState.pos += 1;
-                    foundExclamation = false;
                 } else {
                     throw new Error(`Unexpected \`${c}\``);
                 }
@@ -591,8 +592,8 @@ function initSearch(rawSearchIndex) {
      *
      * The supported syntax by this parser is as follow:
      *
-     * ident = *(ALPHA / DIGIT / "_") [!]
-     * path = ident *(DOUBLE-COLON ident)
+     * ident = *(ALPHA / DIGIT / "_")
+     * path = ident *(DOUBLE-COLON ident) [!]
      * arg = path [generics]
      * arg-without-generic = path
      * type-sep = COMMA/WS *(COMMA/WS)
diff --git a/tests/rustdoc-js-std/parser-ident.js b/tests/rustdoc-js-std/parser-ident.js
index 4b5ab01ac761b..ceee31c3a3f54 100644
--- a/tests/rustdoc-js-std/parser-ident.js
+++ b/tests/rustdoc-js-std/parser-ident.js
@@ -61,33 +61,21 @@ const PARSED = [
         error: null,
     },
     {
-        elems: [{
-            name: "a!::b",
-            fullPath: ["a!", "b"],
-            pathWithoutLast: ["a!"],
-            pathLast: "b",
-            generics: [],
-        }],
-        foundElems: 1,
+        elems: [],
+        foundElems: 0,
         original: "a!::b",
         returned: [],
         typeFilter: -1,
         userQuery: "a!::b",
-        error: null,
+        error: "`!` cannot be followed by `::`",
     },
     {
-        elems: [{
-            name: "a!::b!",
-            fullPath: ["a!", "b!"],
-            pathWithoutLast: ["a!"],
-            pathLast: "b!",
-            generics: [],
-        }],
-        foundElems: 1,
+        elems: [],
+        foundElems: 0,
         original: "a!::b!",
         returned: [],
         typeFilter: -1,
         userQuery: "a!::b!",
-        error: null,
+        error: "`!` cannot be followed by `::`",
     },
 ];