diff --git a/taglibs/core/util/parseFor.js b/taglibs/core/util/parseFor.js
index a03fdf6f5..6519fe3a5 100644
--- a/taglibs/core/util/parseFor.js
+++ b/taglibs/core/util/parseFor.js
@@ -82,6 +82,14 @@ function parseExpression(str, errorMessage) {
     }
 }
 
+function parseStatement(str, errorMessage) {
+    try {
+        return compiler.builder.parseStatement(str);
+    } catch(e) {
+        throwError(errorMessage + ': ' + e.message);
+    }
+}
+
 function createNumberExpression(str, errorMessage) {
     if (str == null) {
         return null;
@@ -294,6 +302,18 @@ module.exports = function(str) {
         statusVarName = buildIdentifier(statusVarName, 'Invalid status-var option');
     }
 
+    if (forInit) {
+        forInit = parseStatement(forInit, 'Invalid for loop init');
+    }
+
+    if (forTest) {
+        forTest = parseExpression(forTest, 'Invalid for loop test');
+    }
+
+    if (forUpdate) {
+        forUpdate = parseExpression(forUpdate, 'Invalid for loop update');
+    }
+
     // No more tokens... now we need to sort out what happened
     if (loopType === 'ForEach') {
         return {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor-empty-init/expected.json b/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor-empty-init/expected.json
index 18e85ce7b..e6ff129f9 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor-empty-init/expected.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor-empty-init/expected.json
@@ -1,6 +1,33 @@
 {
   "loopType": "For",
   "init": "",
-  "test": " i<foo.length",
-  "update": " i++"
+  "test": {
+    "type": "BinaryExpression",
+    "left": {
+      "type": "Identifier",
+      "name": "i"
+    },
+    "operator": "<",
+    "right": {
+      "type": "MemberExpression",
+      "object": {
+        "type": "Identifier",
+        "name": "foo"
+      },
+      "property": {
+        "type": "Identifier",
+        "name": "length"
+      },
+      "computed": false
+    }
+  },
+  "update": {
+    "type": "UpdateExpression",
+    "argument": {
+      "type": "Identifier",
+      "name": "i"
+    },
+    "operator": "++",
+    "prefix": false
+  }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor/expected.json b/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor/expected.json
index 2b7980a03..24b6b0daf 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor/expected.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/parseFor/autotest/nativeFor/expected.json
@@ -1,6 +1,36 @@
 {
   "loopType": "For",
-  "init": "var i=0",
-  "test": " i<foo.length",
-  "update": " i++"
+  "init": {
+    "type": "Expression",
+    "value": "var i=0"
+  },
+  "test": {
+    "type": "BinaryExpression",
+    "left": {
+      "type": "Identifier",
+      "name": "i"
+    },
+    "operator": "<",
+    "right": {
+      "type": "MemberExpression",
+      "object": {
+        "type": "Identifier",
+        "name": "foo"
+      },
+      "property": {
+        "type": "Identifier",
+        "name": "length"
+      },
+      "computed": false
+    }
+  },
+  "update": {
+    "type": "UpdateExpression",
+    "argument": {
+      "type": "Identifier",
+      "name": "i"
+    },
+    "operator": "++",
+    "prefix": false
+  }
 }
\ No newline at end of file