diff --git a/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb b/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb
index 61d1e555..d8f5f2b2 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/tokenizer.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,18 @@ module Liquid
     end
 
     def next_token(ss)
+      if ss.pos == 0
+        if ss.string.start_with?("{{")
+          ss.pos = 2
+          return next_variable_token(ss)
+        elsif ss.string.start_with?("{%")
+          ss.pos = 2
+          return next_tag_token(ss)
+        else
+          return next_text_token(ss)
+        end
+      end
+
       # possible states: :text, :tag, :variable
       byte_a = ss.scan_byte