diff --git a/mode/javascript/javascript.js b/mode/javascript/javascript.js
index 793d2fa580..fd0fce44c4 100644
--- a/mode/javascript/javascript.js
+++ b/mode/javascript/javascript.js
@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@ CodeMirror.defineMode("javascript", function(config, parserConfig) {
       cx.marked = "type"
       return cont(afterType)
     }
+    if (value == "|" || value == "&") return cont(typeexpr)
     if (type == "string" || type == "number" || type == "atom") return cont(afterType);
     if (type == "[") return cont(pushlex("]"), commasep(typeexpr, "]", ","), poplex, afterType)
     if (type == "{") return cont(pushlex("}"), commasep(typeprop, "}", ",;"), poplex, afterType)