diff --git a/src/qweb/expression_parser.ts b/src/qweb/expression_parser.ts
index e5d2fee2..f8a94e56 100644
--- a/src/qweb/expression_parser.ts
+++ b/src/qweb/expression_parser.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 // Misc types, constants and helpers
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-const RESERVED_WORDS = "true,false,NaN,null,undefined,debugger,console,window,in,instanceof,new,function,return,this,typeof,eval,void,Math,RegExp,Array,Object,Date".split(
+const RESERVED_WORDS = "true,false,NaN,null,undefined,debugger,console,window,in,instanceof,new,function,return,this,eval,void,Math,RegExp,Array,Object,Date".split(
   ","
 );
 
@@ -77,7 +77,9 @@ const STATIC_TOKEN_MAP: { [key: string]: TKind } = {
   ")": "RIGHT_PAREN"
 };
 
-const OPERATORS = ".,===,==,+,!==,!=,!,||,&&,>=,>,<=,<,?,-,*,/,%".split(",");
+// note that the space after typeof is relevant. It makes sure that the formatted
+// expression has a space after typeof
+const OPERATORS = ".,===,==,+,!==,!=,!,||,&&,>=,>,<=,<,?,-,*,/,%,typeof ".split(",");
 
 type Tokenizer = (expr: string) => Token | false;
 
@@ -160,9 +162,9 @@ const tokenizeOperator: Tokenizer = function(expr) {
 const TOKENIZERS = [
   tokenizeString,
   tokenizeNumber,
+  tokenizeOperator,
   tokenizeSymbol,
   tokenizeStatic,
-  tokenizeOperator
 ];
 
 /**
diff --git a/tests/qweb/qweb_expressions.test.ts b/tests/qweb/qweb_expressions.test.ts
index e818d44e..8e9563f1 100644
--- a/tests/qweb/qweb_expressions.test.ts
+++ b/tests/qweb/qweb_expressions.test.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ describe("tokenizer", () => {
       { type: "OPERATOR", value: "!==" },
       { type: "OPERATOR", value: "!=" }
     ]);
+    expect(tokenize("typeof a")).toEqual([
+      {"type": "OPERATOR", "value": "typeof "}, {"type": "SYMBOL", "value": "a"}
+    ]);
   });
 
   test("strings", () => {
@@ -112,6 +115,7 @@ describe("expression evaluation", () => {
     expect(compileExpr("!flag", {})).toBe("!context['flag']");
     expect(compileExpr("-3", {})).toBe("-3");
     expect(compileExpr("-a", {})).toBe("-context['a']");
+    expect(compileExpr("typeof a", {})).toBe("typeof context['a']");
   });
 
   test("various binary operators", () => {