diff --git a/ui/repl-readline.c b/ui/repl-readline.c
index f7ba1495a6243..7af8768399291 100644
--- a/ui/repl-readline.c
+++ b/ui/repl-readline.c
@@ -250,12 +250,24 @@ int complete_method_table() {
     // extract the token preceding the (
     int tokenstart = rl_point-2;
 
-    while (tokenstart>=0 && (jl_word_char(rl_line_buffer[tokenstart]) ||
-           rl_line_buffer[tokenstart] == '!')) {
-        tokenstart--;
+    // check for special operators
+    if (strchr("\\><=|&+-*/%^~", rl_line_buffer[tokenstart])){
+        while (tokenstart>0 && strchr("<>=!", rl_line_buffer[tokenstart-1])){
+            tokenstart--;
+        }
+    }
+    else{
+        // check for functions that might contain ! but not start with !
+        while (tokenstart>=0 && (jl_word_char(rl_line_buffer[tokenstart]) ||
+              rl_line_buffer[tokenstart] == '!')) {
+            tokenstart--;
+        }
+        tokenstart++;
+        // ! can't be the first character of a function, unless it's the only character
+        if (tokenstart != rl_point-2 && rl_line_buffer[tokenstart] == '!'){
+            tokenstart ++;
+        }
     }
-    tokenstart++;
-    tokenstart += rl_line_buffer[tokenstart] == '!';
 
     jl_value_t* result = call_jl_function_with_string("repl_methods",
                                                       &rl_line_buffer[tokenstart],