diff --git a/src/libsyntax/ext/tt/macro_rules.rs b/src/libsyntax/ext/tt/macro_rules.rs
index 634572d46940e..e29e0ab54d17f 100644
--- a/src/libsyntax/ext/tt/macro_rules.rs
+++ b/src/libsyntax/ext/tt/macro_rules.rs
@@ -302,8 +302,8 @@ fn check_lhs_nt_follows(cx: &mut ExtCtxt, lhs: &NamedMatch, sp: Span) {
             tt @ &TtSequence(..) => {
                 check_matcher(cx, Some(tt).into_iter(), &Eof);
             },
-            _ => cx.span_bug(sp, "wrong-structured lhs for follow check (didn't find \
-            a TtDelimited or TtSequence)")
+            _ => cx.span_err(sp, "Invalid macro matcher; matchers must be contained \
+               in balanced delimiters or a repetition indicator")
         },
         _ => cx.span_bug(sp, "wrong-structured lhs for follow check (didn't find a \
            MatchedNonterminal)")
diff --git a/src/test/compile-fail/invalid-macro-matcher.rs b/src/test/compile-fail/invalid-macro-matcher.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..302bf34ff9916
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/compile-fail/invalid-macro-matcher.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Copyright 2015 The Rust Project Developers. See the COPYRIGHT
+// file at the top-level directory of this distribution and at
+// http://rust-lang.org/COPYRIGHT.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 <LICENSE-APACHE or
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0> or the MIT license
+// <LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>, at your
+// option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed
+// except according to those terms.
+
+macro_rules! invalid {
+    _ => (); //~^ ERROR Invalid macro matcher
+}
+
+fn main() {
+}