diff --git a/base/docs/Docs.jl b/base/docs/Docs.jl
index 473070114b0a2a..02356f3914bd26 100644
--- a/base/docs/Docs.jl
+++ b/base/docs/Docs.jl
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ astname(@nospecialize(other), ismacro::Bool) = other
 macroname(s::Symbol) = Symbol('@', s)
 macroname(x::Expr)   = Expr(x.head, x.args[1], macroname(x.args[end].value))
 
-isfield(@nospecialize x) = isexpr(x, :.) &&
+isfield(@nospecialize x) = isexpr(x, :.) && length(x.args) == 2 &&
     (isa(x.args[1], Symbol) || isfield(x.args[1])) &&
     (isa(x.args[2], QuoteNode) || isexpr(x.args[2], :quote))
 
diff --git a/stdlib/REPL/src/docview.jl b/stdlib/REPL/src/docview.jl
index 6b6b720bf0ee3f..a483765a2bd6ba 100644
--- a/stdlib/REPL/src/docview.jl
+++ b/stdlib/REPL/src/docview.jl
@@ -25,17 +25,8 @@ helpmode(line::AbstractString) = helpmode(stdout, line)
 
 const extended_help_on = Ref{Any}(nothing)
 
-function _helpmode(io::IO, line::AbstractString)
+function _helpmode_parse(line::AbstractString)
     line = strip(line)
-    ternary_operator_help = (line == "?" || line == "?:")
-    if startswith(line, '?') && !ternary_operator_help
-        line = line[2:end]
-        extended_help_on[] = line
-        brief = false
-    else
-        extended_help_on[] = nothing
-        brief = true
-    end
     # interpret anything starting with # or #= as asking for help on comments
     if startswith(line, "#")
         if startswith(line, "#=")
@@ -45,26 +36,52 @@ function _helpmode(io::IO, line::AbstractString)
         end
     end
     x = Meta.parse(line, raise = false, depwarn = false)
-    assym = Symbol(line)
-    expr =
-        if haskey(keywords, Symbol(line)) || Base.isoperator(assym) || isexpr(x, :error) ||
-            isexpr(x, :invalid) || isexpr(x, :incomplete)
-            # Docs for keywords must be treated separately since trying to parse a single
-            # keyword such as `function` would throw a parse error due to the missing `end`.
-            assym
-        elseif isexpr(x, (:using, :import))
-            (x::Expr).head
-        else
-            # Retrieving docs for macros requires us to make a distinction between the text
-            # `@macroname` and `@macroname()`. These both parse the same, but are used by
-            # the docsystem to return different results. The first returns all documentation
-            # for `@macroname`, while the second returns *only* the docs for the 0-arg
-            # definition if it exists.
-            (isexpr(x, :macrocall, 1) && !endswith(line, "()")) ? quot(x) : x
+    if Meta.isexpr(x, :error)
+        # handle operators like +=
+        asinfix = Meta.parse("x $line x", raise = false, depwarn = false)
+        if asinfix isa Expr && length(asinfix.args) == 2 && asinfix.args[1] == asinfix.args[2] == :x
+            x = asinfix.head
         end
+    end
+    if Meta.isexpr(x, :.) && length(x.args) == 1 && x.args[1] isa Symbol
+        # handle broadcast operators
+        x = Symbol(string(x.head) * string(x.args[1]))
+    end
+    assym = Symbol(line)
+    if haskey(keywords, assym) || isexpr(x, :error) || isexpr(x, :invalid) || isexpr(x, :incomplete)
+        # Docs for keywords must be treated separately since trying to parse a single
+        # keyword such as `function` would throw a parse error due to the missing `end`.
+        assym
+    elseif isexpr(x, (:using, :import))
+        (x::Expr).head
+    else
+        # Retrieving docs for macros requires us to make a distinction between the text
+        # `@macroname` and `@macroname()`. These both parse the same, but are used by
+        # the docsystem to return different results. The first returns all documentation
+        # for `@macroname`, while the second returns *only* the docs for the 0-arg
+        # definition if it exists.
+        (isexpr(x, :macrocall, 1) && !endswith(line, "()")) ? quot(x) : x
+    end
+end
+
+function _helpmode(io::IO, line::AbstractString)
+    line = strip(line)
+    ternary_operator_help = (line == "?" || line == "?:")
+    if startswith(line, '?') && !ternary_operator_help
+        line = line[2:end]
+        extended_help_on[] = line
+        brief = false
+    else
+        extended_help_on[] = nothing
+        brief = true
+    end
+    expr = _helpmode_parse(line)
     # the following must call repl(io, expr) via the @repl macro
     # so that the resulting expressions are evaluated in the Base.Docs namespace
-    :($REPL.@repl $io $expr $brief)
+    quote
+        $REPL.repl_latex($io, $line)
+        $REPL.@repl $io $expr $brief
+    end
 end
 _helpmode(line::AbstractString) = _helpmode(stdout, line)
 
@@ -221,7 +238,7 @@ function lookup_doc(ex)
         str = string(ex)
         isdotted = startswith(str, ".")
         if endswith(str, "=") && Base.operator_precedence(ex) == Base.prec_assignment && ex !== :(:=)
-            op = str[1:end-1]
+            op = first(rsplit(str, c->true, limit=2))
             eq = isdotted ? ".=" : "="
             return Markdown.parse("`x $op= y` is a synonym for `x $eq x $op y`")
         elseif isdotted && ex !== :(..)
@@ -402,7 +419,7 @@ function symbol_latex(s::String)
 
     return get(symbols_latex, s, "")
 end
-function repl_latex(io::IO, s::String)
+function repl_latex(io::IO, s::AbstractString)
     # decompose NFC-normalized identifier to match tab-completion input
     s = normalize(s, :NFD)
     latex = symbol_latex(s)
@@ -450,23 +467,14 @@ function repl_latex(io::IO, s::String)
         println(io, '\n')
     end
 end
-repl_latex(s::String) = repl_latex(stdout, s)
-
-function normalize_symbol(s::Symbol)
-    # parse to apply string->normsymbol
-    normalized = Meta.parse(string(s), raise = false, depwarn = false)
-    normalized isa Symbol ? normalized : s
-end
+repl_latex(s::AbstractString) = repl_latex(stdout, s)
 
 macro repl(ex, brief::Bool=false) repl(ex; brief=brief) end
 macro repl(io, ex, brief) repl(io, ex; brief=brief) end
 
 function repl(io::IO, s::Symbol; brief::Bool=true)
-    str_orig = string(s)
-    s = normalize_symbol(s)
     str = string(s)
     quote
-        repl_latex($io, $str_orig)
         repl_search($io, $str)
         $(if !isdefined(Main, s) && !haskey(keywords, s) && !Base.isoperator(s)
                :(repl_corrections($io, $str))
diff --git a/stdlib/REPL/test/docview.jl b/stdlib/REPL/test/docview.jl
index 50b8aa7f8f4bfd..58fccd15534d21 100644
--- a/stdlib/REPL/test/docview.jl
+++ b/stdlib/REPL/test/docview.jl
@@ -32,11 +32,13 @@ import Markdown
     @test all(duplicates .∈ Ref(keys(REPLCompletions.symbols_latex_canonical)))
 end
 
-@testset "unicode normalization" begin
+@testset "unicode operators" begin
     @test contains(let buf = IOBuffer()
             Core.eval(Main, REPL.helpmode(buf, "\u2212"))
             String(take!(buf))
         end, "\nsearch: - ")
+
+    @test REPL.lookup_doc(:⊻=) == Markdown.parse("`x ⊻= y` is a synonym for `x = x ⊻ y`")
 end
 
 @testset "quoting in doc search" begin
diff --git a/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl b/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl
index 8c4ee75850fbff..caea8222a094cd 100644
--- a/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl
+++ b/stdlib/REPL/test/repl.jl
@@ -1100,8 +1100,29 @@ for (line, expr) in Pair[
     "r\"...\""     => Expr(:macrocall, Symbol("@r_str"), LineNumberNode(1, :none), "..."),
     "using Foo"    => :using,
     "import Foo"   => :import,
+    "# comment"    => Symbol("#"),
+    "#= foo\n=#"   => Symbol("#="),
+    "=#"           => Symbol("=#"),
+    "+"            => :+,
+    "+="           => :+=,
+    ".+"           => :.+,
+    ".+="          => :.+=,
+    "⊻"            => :⊻,
+    "⊻="           => :⊻=,
+    ".⊻"           => :.⊻,
+    ".⊻="          => :.⊻=,
+    "\u2212"       => :-,
+    "\u2212="      => :-=,
+    ".\u2212"      => :.-,
+    ".\u2212="     => :.-=,
+    "1+2"          => :(1 + 2),
+    "1\u22122"     => :(1 - 2),
+    "2e-2"         => 2e-2,
+    "2e\u22122"    => 2e-2,
+    "\ub5"         => Symbol("\u03bc"), # µ (U+00B5 micro) -> μ (U+03BC greek small letter mu)
+    "\ub7"         => Symbol("\u22c5"), # \cdotp -> \cdot
     ]
-    @test REPL._helpmode(line).args[4] == expr
+    @test REPL._helpmode_parse(line) == expr
     @test help_result(line) isa Union{Markdown.MD,Nothing}
 end