diff --git a/src/Init/Lean/Parser/Syntax.lean b/src/Init/Lean/Parser/Syntax.lean
index 17e38995ed..cf9a50ffa4 100644
--- a/src/Init/Lean/Parser/Syntax.lean
+++ b/src/Init/Lean/Parser/Syntax.lean
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def identPrec  := parser! ident >> optPrecedence
 @[builtinCommandParser] def «macro_rules» := parser! "macro_rules" >> many1Indent Term.matchAlt "'match' alternatives must be indented"
 @[builtinCommandParser] def «syntax»      := parser! "syntax " >> optional ("[" >> ident >> "]") >> many1 syntaxParser >> " : " >> ident
 @[builtinCommandParser] def syntaxCat     := parser! "declare_syntax_cat " >> ident
-def macroArgType   := nonReservedSymbol "ident" <|> nonReservedSymbol "num" <|> nonReservedSymbol "str" <|> (ident >> optPrecedence)
+def macroArgType   := nonReservedSymbol "ident" <|> nonReservedSymbol "num" <|> nonReservedSymbol "str" <|> nonReservedSymbol "char" <|> (ident >> optPrecedence)
 def macroArgSimple := parser! ident >> ":" >> macroArgType
 def macroArg  := try strLitPrec <|> try macroArgSimple
 def macroHead := try strLitPrec <|> try identPrec