diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index 4f33b96034..fbbd118640 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
         end
 
         def replace_named_bind_variables(statement, bind_vars) #:nodoc:
-          statement.gsub(/:(\w+)/) do
+          statement.gsub(/:([a-zA-Z]\w*)/) do
             match = $1.to_sym
             if bind_vars.include?(match)
               quote_bound_value(bind_vars[match])
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb
index d17712e1bf..49015133da 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/finder_test.rb
@@ -339,6 +339,8 @@ class FinderTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
   def test_named_bind_variables
     assert_equal '1', bind(':a', :a => 1) # ' ruby-mode
     assert_equal '1 1', bind(':a :a', :a => 1)  # ' ruby-mode
+    
+    assert_nothing_raised { bind("'+00:00'", :foo => "bar") }
 
     assert_kind_of Firm, Company.find(:first, :conditions => ["name = :name", { :name => "37signals" }])
     assert_nil Company.find(:first, :conditions => ["name = :name", { :name => "37signals!" }])