diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/lexer.ts b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/lexer.ts
index c6e7242b9f..e7bbb08aeb 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/lexer.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/lexer.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ export enum TokenType {
   TAG_OPEN_END,
   TAG_OPEN_END_VOID,
   TAG_CLOSE,
+  INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN,
   TEXT,
   ESCAPABLE_RAW_TEXT,
   RAW_TEXT,
@@ -511,8 +512,6 @@ class _Tokenizer {
     let tagName: string;
     let prefix: string;
     let openTagToken: Token|undefined;
-    let tokensBeforeTagOpen = this.tokens.length;
-    const innerStart = this._cursor.clone();
     try {
       if (!chars.isAsciiLetter(this._cursor.peek())) {
         throw this._createError(
@@ -523,7 +522,8 @@ class _Tokenizer {
       prefix = openTagToken.parts[0];
       tagName = openTagToken.parts[1];
       this._attemptCharCodeUntilFn(isNotWhitespace);
-      while (this._cursor.peek() !== chars.$SLASH && this._cursor.peek() !== chars.$GT) {
+      while (this._cursor.peek() !== chars.$SLASH && this._cursor.peek() !== chars.$GT &&
+             this._cursor.peek() !== chars.$LT) {
         this._consumeAttributeName();
         this._attemptCharCodeUntilFn(isNotWhitespace);
         if (this._attemptCharCode(chars.$EQ)) {
@@ -535,14 +535,15 @@ class _Tokenizer {
       this._consumeTagOpenEnd();
     } catch (e) {
       if (e instanceof _ControlFlowError) {
-        // When the start tag is invalid (including invalid "attributes"), assume we want a "<"
-        this._cursor = innerStart;
         if (openTagToken) {
-          this.tokens.length = tokensBeforeTagOpen;
+          // We errored before we could close the opening tag, so it is incomplete.
+          openTagToken.type = TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN;
+        } else {
+          // When the start tag is invalid, assume we want a "<" as text.
+          // Back to back text tokens are merged at the end.
+          this._beginToken(TokenType.TEXT, start);
+          this._endToken(['<']);
         }
-        // Back to back text tokens are merged at the end
-        this._beginToken(TokenType.TEXT, start);
-        this._endToken(['<']);
         return;
       }
 
@@ -772,8 +773,8 @@ function isNotWhitespace(code: number): boolean {
 }
 
 function isNameEnd(code: number): boolean {
-  return chars.isWhitespace(code) || code === chars.$GT || code === chars.$SLASH ||
-      code === chars.$SQ || code === chars.$DQ || code === chars.$EQ;
+  return chars.isWhitespace(code) || code === chars.$GT || code === chars.$LT ||
+      code === chars.$SLASH || code === chars.$SQ || code === chars.$DQ || code === chars.$EQ;
 }
 
 function isPrefixEnd(code: number): boolean {
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts
index 5c5a3f9805..1194a8b7ba 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
 
   build(): void {
     while (this._peek.type !== lex.TokenType.EOF) {
-      if (this._peek.type === lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_START) {
+      if (this._peek.type === lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_START ||
+          this._peek.type === lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN) {
         this._consumeStartTag(this._advance());
       } else if (this._peek.type === lex.TokenType.TAG_CLOSE) {
         this._consumeEndTag(this._advance());
@@ -233,8 +234,7 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
   }
 
   private _consumeStartTag(startTagToken: lex.Token) {
-    const prefix = startTagToken.parts[0];
-    const name = startTagToken.parts[1];
+    const [prefix, name] = startTagToken.parts;
     const attrs: html.Attribute[] = [];
     while (this._peek.type === lex.TokenType.ATTR_NAME) {
       attrs.push(this._consumeAttr(this._advance()));
@@ -266,6 +266,12 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
       // Elements that are self-closed have their `endSourceSpan` set to the full span, as the
       // element start tag also represents the end tag.
       this._popElement(fullName, span);
+    } else if (startTagToken.type === lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN) {
+      // We already know the opening tag is not complete, so it is unlikely it has a corresponding
+      // close tag. Let's optimistically parse it as a full element and emit an error.
+      this._popElement(fullName, null);
+      this.errors.push(
+          TreeError.create(fullName, span, `Opening tag "${fullName}" not terminated.`));
     }
   }
 
@@ -295,7 +301,13 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
     }
   }
 
-  private _popElement(fullName: string, endSourceSpan: ParseSourceSpan): boolean {
+  /**
+   * Closes the nearest element with the tag name `fullName` in the parse tree.
+   * `endSourceSpan` is the span of the closing tag, or null if the element does
+   * not have a closing tag (for example, this happens when an incomplete
+   * opening tag is recovered).
+   */
+  private _popElement(fullName: string, endSourceSpan: ParseSourceSpan|null): boolean {
     for (let stackIndex = this._elementStack.length - 1; stackIndex >= 0; stackIndex--) {
       const el = this._elementStack[stackIndex];
       if (el.name == fullName) {
@@ -303,7 +315,7 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
         // removed from the element stack at this point are closed implicitly, so they won't get
         // an end source span (as there is no explicit closing element).
         el.endSourceSpan = endSourceSpan;
-        el.sourceSpan.end = endSourceSpan.end || el.sourceSpan.end;
+        el.sourceSpan.end = endSourceSpan !== null ? endSourceSpan.end : el.sourceSpan.end;
 
         this._elementStack.splice(stackIndex, this._elementStack.length - stackIndex);
         return true;
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/html_parser_spec.ts b/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/html_parser_spec.ts
index 6dd3f9e97e..87dee2f8aa 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/html_parser_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/html_parser_spec.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {HtmlParser, ParseTreeResult, TreeError} from '../../src/ml_parser/html_p
 import {TokenType} from '../../src/ml_parser/lexer';
 import {ParseError} from '../../src/parse_util';
 
-import {humanizeDom, humanizeDomSourceSpans, humanizeLineColumn} from './ast_spec_utils';
+import {humanizeDom, humanizeDomSourceSpans, humanizeLineColumn, humanizeNodes} from './ast_spec_utils';
 
 {
   describe('HtmlParser', () => {
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ import {humanizeDom, humanizeDomSourceSpans, humanizeLineColumn} from './ast_spe
               `{a, select, b {foo} % { bar {% bar}}`, 'TestComp', {tokenizeExpansionForms: true});
           expect(humanizeErrors(p.errors)).toEqual([
             [
-              6,
+              TokenType.RAW_TEXT,
               'Unexpected character "EOF" (Do you have an unescaped "{" in your template? Use "{{ \'{\' }}") to escape it.)',
               '0:36'
             ],
@@ -840,14 +840,66 @@ import {humanizeDom, humanizeDomSourceSpans, humanizeLineColumn} from './ast_spe
           ]]);
         });
 
-        it('should report subsequent open tags without proper close tag', () => {
-          const errors = parser.parse('<div</div>', 'TestComp').errors;
-          expect(errors.length).toEqual(1);
-          expect(humanizeErrors(errors)).toEqual([[
-            'div',
-            'Unexpected closing tag "div". It may happen when the tag has already been closed by another tag. For more info see https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#closing-elements-that-have-implied-end-tags',
-            '0:4'
-          ]]);
+        describe('incomplete element tag', () => {
+          it('should parse and report incomplete tags after the tag name', () => {
+            const {errors, rootNodes} = parser.parse('<div<span><div  </span>', 'TestComp');
+
+            expect(humanizeNodes(rootNodes, true)).toEqual([
+              [html.Element, 'div', 0, '<div', '<div', null],
+              [html.Element, 'span', 0, '<span><div  </span>', '<span>', '</span>'],
+              [html.Element, 'div', 1, '<div  ', '<div  ', null],
+            ]);
+
+            expect(humanizeErrors(errors)).toEqual([
+              ['div', 'Opening tag "div" not terminated.', '0:0'],
+              ['div', 'Opening tag "div" not terminated.', '0:10'],
+            ]);
+          });
+
+          it('should parse and report incomplete tags after attribute', () => {
+            const {errors, rootNodes} =
+                parser.parse('<div class="hi" sty<span></span>', 'TestComp');
+
+            expect(humanizeNodes(rootNodes, true)).toEqual([
+              [html.Element, 'div', 0, '<div class="hi" sty', '<div class="hi" sty', null],
+              [html.Attribute, 'class', 'hi', 'class="hi"'],
+              [html.Attribute, 'sty', '', 'sty'],
+              [html.Element, 'span', 0, '<span></span>', '<span>', '</span>'],
+            ]);
+
+            expect(humanizeErrors(errors)).toEqual([
+              ['div', 'Opening tag "div" not terminated.', '0:0'],
+            ]);
+          });
+
+          it('should parse and report incomplete tags after quote', () => {
+            const {errors, rootNodes} = parser.parse('<div "<span></span>', 'TestComp');
+
+            expect(humanizeNodes(rootNodes, true)).toEqual([
+              [html.Element, 'div', 0, '<div ', '<div ', null],
+              [html.Text, '"', 0, '"'],
+              [html.Element, 'span', 0, '<span></span>', '<span>', '</span>'],
+            ]);
+
+            expect(humanizeErrors(errors)).toEqual([
+              ['div', 'Opening tag "div" not terminated.', '0:0'],
+            ]);
+          });
+
+          it('should report subsequent open tags without proper close tag', () => {
+            const errors = parser.parse('<div</div>', 'TestComp').errors;
+            expect(errors.length).toEqual(2);
+            expect(humanizeErrors(errors)).toEqual([
+              ['div', 'Opening tag "div" not terminated.', '0:0'],
+              // TODO(ayazhafiz): the following error is unnecessary and can be pruned if we keep
+              // track of the incomplete tag names.
+              [
+                'div',
+                'Unexpected closing tag "div". It may happen when the tag has already been closed by another tag. For more info see https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#closing-elements-that-have-implied-end-tags',
+                '0:4'
+              ]
+            ]);
+          });
         });
 
         it('should report closing tag for void elements', () => {
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/lexer_spec.ts b/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/lexer_spec.ts
index f2a650a558..1b5e3e3bc4 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/lexer_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/ml_parser/lexer_spec.ts
@@ -232,6 +232,45 @@ import {ParseLocation, ParseSourceFile, ParseSourceSpan} from '../../src/parse_u
           [lex.TokenType.EOF, ''],
         ]);
       });
+
+      describe('tags', () => {
+        it('after tag name', () => {
+          expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeSourceSpans('<div<span><div</span>')).toEqual([
+            [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '<div'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_START, '<span'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_END, '>'],
+            [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '<div'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_CLOSE, '</span>'],
+            [lex.TokenType.EOF, ''],
+          ]);
+        });
+
+        it('in attribute', () => {
+          expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeSourceSpans('<div class="hi" sty<span></span>')).toEqual([
+            [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '<div'],
+            [lex.TokenType.ATTR_NAME, 'class'],
+            [lex.TokenType.ATTR_QUOTE, '"'],
+            [lex.TokenType.ATTR_VALUE, 'hi'],
+            [lex.TokenType.ATTR_QUOTE, '"'],
+            [lex.TokenType.ATTR_NAME, 'sty'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_START, '<span'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_END, '>'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_CLOSE, '</span>'],
+            [lex.TokenType.EOF, ''],
+          ]);
+        });
+
+        it('after quote', () => {
+          expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeSourceSpans('<div "<span></span>')).toEqual([
+            [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '<div'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '"'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_START, '<span'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_END, '>'],
+            [lex.TokenType.TAG_CLOSE, '</span>'],
+            [lex.TokenType.EOF, ''],
+          ]);
+        });
+      });
     });
 
     describe('attributes', () => {
@@ -554,7 +593,8 @@ import {ParseLocation, ParseSourceFile, ParseSourceSpan} from '../../src/parse_u
         expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeSourceSpans('<p>a<b</p>')).toEqual([
           [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_START, '<p'],
           [lex.TokenType.TAG_OPEN_END, '>'],
-          [lex.TokenType.TEXT, 'a<b'],
+          [lex.TokenType.TEXT, 'a'],
+          [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '<b'],
           [lex.TokenType.TAG_CLOSE, '</p>'],
           [lex.TokenType.EOF, ''],
         ]);
@@ -579,25 +619,41 @@ import {ParseLocation, ParseSourceFile, ParseSourceSpan} from '../../src/parse_u
 
       it('should parse start tags quotes in place of an attribute name as text', () => {
         expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeParts('<t ">')).toEqual([
-          [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '<t ">'],
+          [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '', 't'],
+          [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '">'],
           [lex.TokenType.EOF],
         ]);
 
         expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeParts('<t \'>')).toEqual([
-          [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '<t \'>'],
+          [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '', 't'],
+          [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '\'>'],
           [lex.TokenType.EOF],
         ]);
       });
 
-      it('should parse start tags quotes in place of an attribute name (after a valid attribute) as text',
+      it('should parse start tags quotes in place of an attribute name (after a valid attribute)',
          () => {
            expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeParts('<t a="b" ">')).toEqual([
-             [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '<t a="b" ">'],
+             [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '', 't'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_NAME, '', 'a'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_QUOTE, '"'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_VALUE, 'b'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_QUOTE, '"'],
+             // TODO(ayazhafiz): the " symbol should be a synthetic attribute,
+             // allowing us to complete the opening tag correctly.
+             [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '">'],
              [lex.TokenType.EOF],
            ]);
 
            expect(tokenizeAndHumanizeParts('<t a=\'b\' \'>')).toEqual([
-             [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '<t a=\'b\' \'>'],
+             [lex.TokenType.INCOMPLETE_TAG_OPEN, '', 't'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_NAME, '', 'a'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_QUOTE, '\''],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_VALUE, 'b'],
+             [lex.TokenType.ATTR_QUOTE, '\''],
+             // TODO(ayazhafiz): the ' symbol should be a synthetic attribute,
+             // allowing us to complete the opening tag correctly.
+             [lex.TokenType.TEXT, '\'>'],
              [lex.TokenType.EOF],
            ]);
          });