--- a/xml/php.xml
+++ b/xml/php.xml
@@ -5412,6 +5412,7 @@
     </list>
 
     <contexts>
+      <!-- JGM:  Added fallthrough so it will handle snippets that don't begin with <?php -->
+      <context name="start" lineEndContext="#stay" attribute="Normal Text" fallthrough="true" fallthroughContext="phpsource">
-      <context name="start" lineEndContext="#stay" attribute="Normal Text">
         <RegExpr context="phpsource" attribute="Keyword" String="&lt;\?(?:=|php)?" insensitive="true" />
         <StringDetect attribute="Keyword" context="#pop" String="?&gt;" />
