diff --git a/lib/checkinternal.cpp b/lib/checkinternal.cpp
index bbb669dbe..1a2b0ec84 100644
--- a/lib/checkinternal.cpp
+++ b/lib/checkinternal.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ void CheckInternal::checkTokenMatchPatterns()
                 }
             }
         }
+        if (pattern.find("||") != std::string::npos || pattern.find(" | ") != std::string::npos || pattern[0] == '|' || (pattern[pattern.length() - 1] == '|' && pattern[pattern.length() - 2] == ' '))
+            orInComplexPattern(tok, pattern, funcname);
 
         // Check for signs of complex patterns
         if (pattern.find_first_of("[|%") != std::string::npos)
@@ -321,4 +323,10 @@ void CheckInternal::redundantNextPreviousError(const Token* tok, const std::stri
                 "Call to 'Token::" + func1 + "()' followed by 'Token::" + func2 + "()' can be simplified.");
 }
 
+void CheckInternal::orInComplexPattern(const Token* tok, const std::string& pattern, const std::string &funcname)
+{
+    reportError(tok, Severity::error, "orInComplexPattern",
+                "Token::" + funcname + "() pattern \"" + pattern + "\" contains \"||\" or \"|\". Replace it by \"%oror%\" or \"%or%\".");
+}
+
 #endif // #ifdef CHECK_INTERNAL
diff --git a/lib/checkinternal.h b/lib/checkinternal.h
index 1bcba76d0..77372665d 100644
--- a/lib/checkinternal.h
+++ b/lib/checkinternal.h
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ private:
     void missingPercentCharacterError(const Token *tok, const std::string &pattern, const std::string &funcname);
     void unknownPatternError(const Token* tok, const std::string& pattern);
     void redundantNextPreviousError(const Token* tok, const std::string& func1, const std::string& func2);
+    void orInComplexPattern(const Token *tok, const std::string &pattern, const std::string &funcname);
 
     void getErrorMessages(ErrorLogger *errorLogger, const Settings *settings) const {
         CheckInternal c(0, settings, errorLogger);
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ private:
         c.missingPercentCharacterError(0, "%num", "Match");
         c.unknownPatternError(0, "%typ");
         c.redundantNextPreviousError(0, "previous", "next");
+        c.orInComplexPattern(0, "||", "Match");
     }
 
     static std::string myName() {
diff --git a/test/testinternal.cpp b/test/testinternal.cpp
index 1a80e60fe..07161beea 100644
--- a/test/testinternal.cpp
+++ b/test/testinternal.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ private:
         TEST_CASE(redundantNextPrevious)
         TEST_CASE(internalError)
         TEST_CASE(invalidMultiCompare);
+        TEST_CASE(orInComplexPattern);
     }
 
     void check(const char code[]) {
@@ -342,6 +343,38 @@ private:
               "}");
         ASSERT_EQUALS("", errout.str());
     }
+
+    void orInComplexPattern() {
+        check("void f() {\n"
+              "    Token::Match(tok, \"||\");\n"
+              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:2]: (error) Token::Match() pattern \"||\" contains \"||\" or \"|\". Replace it by \"%oror%\" or \"%or%\".\n", errout.str());
+
+        check("void f() {\n"
+              "    Token::Match(tok, \"|\");\n"
+              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:2]: (error) Token::Match() pattern \"|\" contains \"||\" or \"|\". Replace it by \"%oror%\" or \"%or%\".\n", errout.str());
+
+        check("void f() {\n"
+              "    Token::Match(tok, \"[|+-]\");\n"
+              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", errout.str());
+
+        check("void f() {\n"
+              "    Token::Match(tok, \"foo | bar\");\n"
+              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:2]: (error) Token::Match() pattern \"foo | bar\" contains \"||\" or \"|\". Replace it by \"%oror%\" or \"%or%\".\n", errout.str());
+
+        check("void f() {\n"
+              "    Token::Match(tok, \"foo |\");\n"
+              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[test.cpp:2]: (error) Token::Match() pattern \"foo |\" contains \"||\" or \"|\". Replace it by \"%oror%\" or \"%or%\".\n", errout.str());
+
+        check("void f() {\n"
+              "    Token::Match(tok, \"bar foo|\");\n"
+              "}");
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("", errout.str());
+    }
 };
 
 REGISTER_TEST(TestInternal)