diff --git a/src/parser/seclang-scanner.ll b/src/parser/seclang-scanner.ll
index 824df24b..2c7379fa 100755
--- a/src/parser/seclang-scanner.ll
+++ b/src/parser/seclang-scanner.ll
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ VAR_FREE_TEXT_SPACE_COMMA [^, \t\"]+
 VAR_FREE_TEXT_SPACE [^ \t\"]+
 
 
-SOMETHING ["]{1}[^@|!]{1}([^"]|([^\\"]\\\"))*["]{1}
+SOMETHING ["]{1}([^"]|([^\\"]\\\"))*["]{1}
 
 CONFIG_DIR_UNICODE_MAP_FILE (?i:SecUnicodeMapFile)
 
@@ -338,10 +338,10 @@ CONFIG_DIR_UNICODE_MAP_FILE (?i:SecUnicodeMapFile)
 {CONFIG_DIR_SEC_MARKER}[ ]{NEW_LINE_FREE_TEXT} { return yy::seclang_parser::make_CONFIG_DIR_SEC_MARKER(strchr(yytext, ' ') + 1, *driver.loc.back()); }
 
 <EXPECTING_OPERATOR>{
-{SOMETHING}           { BEGIN(INITIAL); return yy::seclang_parser::make_FREE_TEXT(yytext, *driver.loc.back()); }
 ["]{OPERATOR}[ ]{FREE_TEXT}["]  { BEGIN(INITIAL); return yy::seclang_parser::make_OPERATOR(yytext, *driver.loc.back()); }
 ["]{OPERATORNOARG}[\t ]*["]     { BEGIN(INITIAL); return yy::seclang_parser::make_OPERATOR(yytext, *driver.loc.back()); }
 ["]{OPERATOR_GEOIP}[\t ]*["]    { BEGIN(INITIAL); return yy::seclang_parser::make_OPERATOR_GEOIP(yytext, *driver.loc.back()); }
+{SOMETHING}           { BEGIN(INITIAL); return yy::seclang_parser::make_FREE_TEXT(yytext, *driver.loc.back()); }
 }
 
 {ACTION}                        { return yy::seclang_parser::make_ACTION(yytext, *driver.loc.back()); }
diff --git a/test/test-cases/regression/config-include-bad.json b/test/test-cases/regression/config-include-bad.json
index e5a029e8..ea5b9f84 100644
--- a/test/test-cases/regression/config-include-bad.json
+++ b/test/test-cases/regression/config-include-bad.json
@@ -44,21 +44,6 @@
       "SecRule ARGS \"@contains test\" \"id:19,pass,t:trim\""
     ]
   },
-  {
-    "enabled":1,
-    "version_min":300000,
-    "title":"Include - bad operator inside include",
-    "expected":{
-      "parser_error": "Rules error. File: test-cases/data/config_example-bad-op-include.txt. Line: 2. Column: 67. .*"
-    },
-    "rules":[
-      "SecRuleEngine On",
-      "SecDebugLog \/tmp\/modsec_debug.log",
-      "SecDebugLogLevel 9",
-      "Include test-cases/data/config_example-bad-op-include.txt",
-      "SecRule ARGS \"@contains test\" \"id:19,pass,t:trim\""
-    ]
-  },
   {
     "enabled":1,
     "version_min":300000,