diff --git a/src/highlight.c b/src/highlight.c
index 9e9830bd7d..0accfe9be4 100644
--- a/src/highlight.c
+++ b/src/highlight.c
@@ -5630,6 +5630,7 @@ parse_winhighlight(char_u *opt, int *len, char **errmsg)
     hl_override_T   *arr;
     int		    i = 0;
     int		    num = 1;
+    int		    n_colons = 0;
 
     if (*p == NUL)
 	return NULL;
@@ -5640,6 +5641,19 @@ parse_winhighlight(char_u *opt, int *len, char **errmsg)
 	p++;
 	num++;
     }
+    p = opt;
+    // Check if number of ':' matches number of ','
+    while ((p = vim_strchr(p, ':')) != NULL)
+    {
+	p++;
+	n_colons++;
+    }
+
+    if (num != n_colons)
+    {
+	*errmsg = e_invalid_argument;
+	return NULL;
+    }
 
     arr = ALLOC_MULT(hl_override_T, num);
     if (arr == NULL)
@@ -5667,6 +5681,8 @@ parse_winhighlight(char_u *opt, int *len, char **errmsg)
 	    goto fail;
 
 	fromlen = p - fromname; // Get hl for "from"
+	if (fromlen == 0)
+	    goto fail;
 	p++; // Skip colon ':'
 	if (*p == NUL)
 	    goto fail;
@@ -5683,6 +5699,8 @@ parse_winhighlight(char_u *opt, int *len, char **errmsg)
 	    tolen = tmp - toname;
 	    p = ++tmp;
 	}
+	if (tolen == 0)
+	    goto fail;
 
 	for (int k = 0; k < 2; k++)
 	{
diff --git a/src/testdir/util/gen_opt_test.vim b/src/testdir/util/gen_opt_test.vim
index c2c5191daa..72ff49b62e 100644
--- a/src/testdir/util/gen_opt_test.vim
+++ b/src/testdir/util/gen_opt_test.vim
@@ -362,7 +362,8 @@ let test_values = {
       \ 'winaltkeys': [['no', 'yes', 'menu'], ['', 'xxx']],
       \ 'winhighlight': [['Search:Errormsg,Comment:String', 'Search:Comment', ''],
       \		['xxx', ',', 'Search:Comment,', 'Search:Errormsg,Comment:String,',
-      \		':', 'Search:,', 'Search:']],
+      \		':', 'Search:,', 'Search:', ',Search', ',Search:Test', 'S:,A:B',
+      \		',', ',S:']],
       \
       "\ skipped options
       \ 'luadll': [[], []],
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index d956131905..c923229490 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -734,6 +734,8 @@ static char *(features[]) =
 
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
+/**/
+    211,
 /**/
     210,
 /**/