diff --git a/lib/puppet-lint/data.rb b/lib/puppet-lint/data.rb
index 92e75a34..c327966d 100644
--- a/lib/puppet-lint/data.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet-lint/data.rb
@@ -201,6 +201,9 @@ def find_resource_type_token(index)
       lbrace_idx = tokens[0..index].rindex do |token|
         token.type == :LBRACE && token.prev_code_token.type != :QMARK
       end
+
+      raise PuppetLint::SyntaxError, tokens[index] if lbrace_idx.nil?
+
       tokens[lbrace_idx].prev_code_token
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/puppet-lint/data_spec.rb b/spec/puppet-lint/data_spec.rb
index 7bf13536..6a44d2dc 100644
--- a/spec/puppet-lint/data_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/puppet-lint/data_spec.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,18 @@
         }
       end
     end
+
+    context 'when typo in namespace separator makes parser look for resource' do
+      let(:manifest) { '$testparam = $::module:;testparam' }
+
+      it 'raises a SyntaxError' do
+        expect {
+          data.resource_indexes
+        }.to raise_error(PuppetLint::SyntaxError) { |error|
+          expect(error.token).to eq(data.tokens[5])
+        }
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe '.insert' do