diff --git a/syntax/awk.nanorc b/syntax/awk.nanorc
index e5d1af05..ca518f64 100644
--- a/syntax/awk.nanorc
+++ b/syntax/awk.nanorc
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ color red "\<(PROCINFO|RS|RT|RSTART|RLENGTH|SUBSEP|TEXTDOMAIN)\>"
 # Function declarations and special patterns.
 color brightgreen "\<(function|extension|BEGIN|END)\>"
 # Operators.
-color green "\{|\}|\(|\)|\;|\[|\]|\\|<|>|!|=|&|\+|-|\*|%|/|\?:|\^|\|"
+color green "\{|\}|\(|\)|\;|\[|\]|\\|<|>|!|=|&|\+|-|\*|%|/|\?|:|\^|\|"
 # Flow control.
 color brightyellow "\<(for|if|while|do|else|in|delete|exit)\>"
 color brightyellow "\<(break|continue|return)\>"