diff --git a/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb b/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb
index 1b3984ca..7345d46d 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,30 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+require "strscan"
+
 module Liquid
   class Tokenizer
     attr_reader :line_number, :for_liquid_tag
 
+    TAG_START = /\{%/
+    TAG_END = /%\}/
+    VARIABLE_START = /\{\{/
+    VARIABLE_END = /\}\}/
+    TAG_OR_VARIABLE_START = /\{[\{\%}]/
+
     def initialize(source, line_numbers = false, line_number: nil, for_liquid_tag: false)
       @source         = source
       @line_number    = line_number || (line_numbers ? 1 : nil)
       @for_liquid_tag = for_liquid_tag
       @offset         = 0
-      @tokens         = tokenize
+      @ss = StringScanner.new(source)
     end
 
     def shift
-      token = @tokens[@offset]
+      return nil if @ss.eos?
+
+      token = @for_liquid_tag ? next_liquid_token : next_token
+
       return nil unless token
 
       @offset += 1
@@ -27,19 +38,83 @@ module Liquid
 
     private
 
-    def tokenize
-      return [] if @source.empty?
-
-      return @source.split("\n") if @for_liquid_tag
-
-      tokens = @source.split(TemplateParser)
-
-      # removes the rogue empty element at the beginning of the array
-      if tokens[0]&.empty?
-        @offset += 1
+    def next_liquid_token
+      # read until we find a \n
+      start = @ss.pos
+      if @ss.scan_until(/\n/).nil?
+        token = @ss.rest
+        @ss.terminate
+        return token
       end
 
-      tokens
+      @ss.string.byteslice(start, @ss.pos - start - 1)
+    end
+
+    def next_token
+      # possible states: :text, :tag, :variable
+      c_list = @ss.peek(2)
+
+      case c_list
+      when "{%"
+        next_tag_token
+      when "{{"
+        next_variable_token
+      else
+        next_text_token
+      end
+    end
+
+    def next_text_token
+      start = @ss.pos
+
+      if @ss.scan_until(TAG_OR_VARIABLE_START).nil?
+        token = @ss.rest
+        @ss.terminate
+        return token
+      end
+
+      @ss.pos -= 2
+
+      @ss.string.byteslice(start, @ss.pos - start)
+    end
+
+    def next_variable_token
+      start = @ss.pos
+      @ss.pos += 2
+      found_variable_end = false
+
+      # it is possible to see a {% before a }} so we need to check for that
+      until @ss.eos?
+        case @ss.peek(2)
+        when "}}"
+          @ss.pos += 2
+          found_variable_end = true
+          break
+        when "{%"
+          return next_tag_token(start)
+        end
+
+        @ss.pos += 1
+      end
+
+      return "{{" unless found_variable_end
+
+      @ss.string.byteslice(start, @ss.pos - start)
+    end
+
+    def next_tag_token(start = nil)
+      start = @ss.pos if start.nil?
+      @ss.pos += 2
+
+      if @ss.scan_until(TAG_END).nil?
+        raise_syntax_error("tag was not properly terminated")
+      end
+
+      @ss.string.byteslice(start, @ss.pos - start)
+    end
+
+    def raise_syntax_error(message)
+      raise SyntaxError, message
     end
   end
 end