diff --git a/syntax/xml.nanorc b/syntax/xml.nanorc
index fe14692c..d5e41e44 100644
--- a/syntax/xml.nanorc
+++ b/syntax/xml.nanorc
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ header "<\?xml.*version=.*\?>"
 magic "(XML|SGML) (sub)?document"
 comment "<!--|-->"
 
-# The entire content of the tag:
+# First the entire content of the tag (for the attributes):
 color green start="<" end=">"
 
 # The angled brackets and the name of the tag:
@@ -21,5 +21,6 @@ color #888 start="<!DOCTYPE[^>]*$" end="^[^<]*>"
 # Comments:
 color yellow start="<!--" end="-->"
 
-# Escapes:
-color red "&[^;]*;"
+# Entities (custom and predefined):
+color pink "&[^; ]+;"
+color red "&(amp|apos|gt|lt|quot);"