diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/ChangeLog b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/ChangeLog
index e6dcef166f9..7616d632d95 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/ChangeLog
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+2004-01-28 John Camelon
+	Added ScannerTestCase::testBug50821().  
+
 2004-01-27 John Camelon
 	Renamed ContextualParseTest to CompletionParseTest.
 	Updated COMPLETION_PARSE clients to use SINGLE_NAME_REFERENCE rather than STATEMENT_START.  
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/parser/tests/ScannerTestCase.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/parser/tests/ScannerTestCase.java
index 3824cdd8bf4..511dc7aa640 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/parser/tests/ScannerTestCase.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.tests/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/parser/tests/ScannerTestCase.java
@@ -1547,4 +1547,12 @@ public class ScannerTestCase extends BaseScannerTest
     	initializeScanner( buffer.toString(), ParserMode.COMPLETE_PARSE );
     	validateEOF();
     }
+    
+    public void testBug50821() throws Exception
+	{
+    	Callback callback = new Callback( ParserMode.QUICK_PARSE );
+    	initializeScanner( "\'\n\n\n", ParserMode.QUICK_PARSE,  callback );
+    	scanner.nextToken(); 
+    	assertEquals( callback.problems.size(), 1 );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/ChangeLog-parser b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/ChangeLog-parser
index ae56a71d9e9..79555b77c58 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/ChangeLog-parser
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/ChangeLog-parser
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+2004-01-28 John Camelon
+	Fixed Bug 50821 - Freezes when opening / saving .c file 
+
 2004-01-28 John Camelon
 	Fixed Bug 50711 - Wrong completion kind in a new expression
 
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/parser/scanner/Scanner.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/parser/scanner/Scanner.java
index 1e409053661..baa58617e50 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/parser/scanner/Scanner.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/parser/scanner/Scanner.java
@@ -1841,7 +1841,7 @@ public class Scanner implements IScanner {
         	    ( c == NOCHAR ) )
         	{
         		handleProblem( IProblem.SCANNER_BAD_CHARACTER, new Character( (char)c ).toString(),beginOffset, false, true, throwExceptionOnBadCharacterRead );
-        		c = ' ';
+        		c = '\'';
 			}			
 			// exit condition
 			if ( ( c =='\'' ) && ( prev != '\\' || prevPrev == '\\' ) ) break;