diff --git a/lib/search-query-parser.js b/lib/search-query-parser.js
index f38ffe3..d1f2a4d 100644
--- a/lib/search-query-parser.js
+++ b/lib/search-query-parser.js
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ exports.parse = function (string, options) {
     // Get a list of search terms respecting single and double quotes
     var terms = string.match(/(\S+:'(?:[^'\\]|\\.)*')|(\S+:"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*")|\S+|\S+:\S+/g);
     for (var i = 0; i < terms.length; i++) {
-      if(terms[i].indexOf(':') !== -1) {
+      var sepIndex = terms[i].indexOf(':');
+      if(sepIndex !== -1) {
         var split = terms[i].split(':'),
-            key = split[0],
-            val = split[1];
+            key = terms[i].slice(0, sepIndex),
+            val = terms[i].slice(sepIndex + 1);
         // Strip surrounding quotes
         val = val.replace(/^\"|\"$|^\'|\'$/g, '');
         // Strip backslashes respecting escapes