diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/src/handlers.js b/lib/jsdoc/src/handlers.js
index bdb9e38c..931b239a 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/src/handlers.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/src/handlers.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ function getNewDoclet(parser, comment, e) {
         err = new Error( util.format('cannot create a doclet in the file %s for the comment ' +
             '"%s": %s', parser._currentSourceName, comment.replace(/[\r\n]/g, ''), error.message) );
         require('jsdoc/util/error').handle(err);
+        return new jsdoc.doclet.Doclet('', {});
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js b/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
index 92de911b..b3353976 100644
--- a/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
+++ b/lib/jsdoc/util/templateHelper.js
@@ -100,6 +100,20 @@ var tutorialLinkMap = {
 
 var longnameToUrl = exports.longnameToUrl = linkMap.longnameToUrl;
 
+function parseType(longname) {
+    var catharsis = require('catharsis');
+    var err;
+
+    try {
+        return catharsis.parse(longname, {jsdoc: true});
+    }
+    catch (e) {
+        err = new Error('unable to parse ' + longname + ': ' + e.message);
+        require('jsdoc/util/error').handle(err);
+        return longname;
+    }
+}
+
 /**
  * Retrieve an HTML link to the member with the specified longname. If the longname is not
  * associated with a URL, this method returns the link text, if provided, or the longname.
@@ -123,19 +137,16 @@ var linkto = exports.linkto = function(longname, linktext, cssClass) {
     var url = hasOwnProp.call(longnameToUrl, longname) && longnameToUrl[longname];
     var parsedType;
 
-    // type applications require special treatment
-    var typeAppInfo = /(\S+)<(\S+)>/.exec(longname);
-    if (typeAppInfo) {
-        typeAppInfo[1] = linkto(typeAppInfo[1], null, cssClass);
-        parsedType = catharsis.parse(typeAppInfo[2], {jsdoc: true});
-        typeAppInfo[2] = catharsis.stringify(parsedType, {
+    // handle complex type expressions that may require multiple links
+    if (text.search(/[<{(]/) !== -1) {
+        parsedType = parseType(longname);
+        return catharsis.stringify(parsedType, {
             cssClass: cssClass,
             htmlSafe: true,
             links: longnameToUrl
         });
-        return typeAppInfo[1] + '&lt;' + typeAppInfo[2] + '>';
     }
-    
+
     if (!url) {
         return text;
     }