diff --git a/lib/saxes.js b/lib/saxes.js
index 5ff897e4..212e1e94 100644
--- a/lib/saxes.js
+++ b/lib/saxes.js
@@ -161,6 +161,10 @@ function isName(name) {
   return NAME_RE.test(name);
 }
 
+const FORBIDDEN_START = 0;
+const FORBIDDEN_BRACKET = 1;
+const FORBIDDEN_BRACKET_BRACKET = 2;
+
 /**
  * Data structure for an XML tag.
  *
@@ -312,6 +316,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
     this.chunkPosition = 0;
     this.i = 0;
     this.trailingCR = false;
+    this.forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
     /**
      * A map of entity name to expansion.
      *
@@ -801,33 +806,70 @@ class SaxesParser {
     // for performing the ]]> check. A previous version of this code, checked
     // ``this.text`` for the presence of ]]>. It simplified the code but was
     // very costly when character data contained a lot of entities to be parsed.
+    //
+    // Since we are using a specialized loop, we also keep track of the presence
+    // of ]]> in text data. The sequence ]]> is forbidden to appear as-is.
+    //
     const { chunk, limit, i: start } = this;
+    let { forbiddenState } = this;
+    let nonSpace = false;
     let c;
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels, no-restricted-syntax
+    scanLoop:
     while (this.i < limit) {
       const code = this.getCode();
-      if (code === LESS || code === AMP) {
+      switch (code) {
+      case LESS:
+        this.state = S_OPEN_WAKA;
+        c = code;
+        forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
+        break scanLoop;
+      case AMP:
+        this.state = S_ENTITY;
+        this.entityReturnState = S_TEXT;
         c = code;
+        forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
+        nonSpace = true;
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
+        break scanLoop;
+      case CLOSE_BRACKET:
+        switch (forbiddenState) {
+        case FORBIDDEN_START:
+          forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_BRACKET;
+          break;
+        case FORBIDDEN_BRACKET:
+          forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_BRACKET_BRACKET;
+          break;
+        case FORBIDDEN_BRACKET_BRACKET:
+          break;
+        default:
+          forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
+        }
+        nonSpace = true;
+        break;
+      case GREATER:
+        if (forbiddenState === FORBIDDEN_BRACKET_BRACKET) {
+          this.fail("the string \"]]>\" is disallowed in char data.");
+        }
+        forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
+        nonSpace = true;
         break;
+      default:
+        forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
+        if (!isS(code)) {
+          nonSpace = true;
+        }
       }
     }
+    this.forbiddenState = forbiddenState;
 
     // This is faster than adding codepoints one by one.
-    const slice = chunk.substring(start,
-                                  c === undefined ? undefined :
-                                  (this.i - (c <= 0xFFFF ? 1 : 2)));
-
-    // We test for the presence of ]]>, which is not allowed in CharData. We
-    // have to take into account edge conditions.
-    if (slice.includes("]]>") ||
-        (slice[0] === ">" && this.text.endsWith("]]")) ||
-        (slice.startsWith("]>") && this.text.endsWith("]"))) {
-      this.fail("the string \"]]>\" is disallowed in char data.");
-    }
+    this.text += chunk.substring(start,
+                                 c === undefined ? undefined :
+                                 (this.i - (c <= 0xFFFF ? 1 : 2)));
 
-    this.text += slice;
-
-    if ((!this.sawRoot || this.closedRoot) &&
-        (/\S/.test(slice) || c === AMP)) {
+    if (nonSpace && (!this.sawRoot || this.closedRoot)) {
       // We use the reportedTextBeforeRoot and reportedTextAfterRoot flags
       // to avoid reporting errors for every single character that is out of
       // place.
@@ -841,17 +883,6 @@ class SaxesParser {
         this.reportedTextAfterRoot = true;
       }
     }
-
-    switch (c) {
-    case LESS:
-      this.state = S_OPEN_WAKA;
-      break;
-    case AMP:
-      this.state = S_ENTITY;
-      this.entityReturnState = S_TEXT;
-      break;
-    default:
-    }
   }
 
   /** @private */
diff --git a/test/wrong-cdata-closure.js b/test/wrong-cdata-closure.js
index 37d74889..d6813542 100644
--- a/test/wrong-cdata-closure.js
+++ b/test/wrong-cdata-closure.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ describe("wrong cdata closure", () => {
         isSelfClosing: false,
       }],
       ["error",
-       "undefined:1:23: the string \"]]>\" is disallowed in char data."],
+       "undefined:1:19: the string \"]]>\" is disallowed in char data."],
       ["text", "somethingx]]>moo"],
       ["closetag", {
         name: "span",
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ describe("wrong cdata closure", () => {
         isSelfClosing: false,
       }],
       ["error",
-       "undefined:1:20: the string \"]]>\" is disallowed in char data."],
+       "undefined:1:19: the string \"]]>\" is disallowed in char data."],
       ["text", "somethingx]]>moo"],
       ["closetag", {
         name: "span",