diff --git a/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ExpressionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ExpressionParser.java
index 6abb42b..c010c28 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ExpressionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ExpressionParser.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class ExpressionParser {
 	private final String elementSeparator;
 	private final String statementSeparator;
 	private final BiFunction<ExpressionParser, String, ParseOperation> parseOperationFactory;
-
+	private final ParsingNode<Operator> parsingNodeOperatorStart;
 	/**
 	 * Creates an expression parser with the standard set of operators and default
 	 * separator symbols ({@code ,} for group elements, {@code ;} for statements).
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ public ExpressionParser(final Collection<? extends Operator> operators,
 		this.elementSeparator = elementSeparator;
 		this.statementSeparator = statementSeparator;
 		this.parseOperationFactory = parseOperationFactory;
+		this.parsingNodeOperatorStart = buildParsingNodeOperator();
 	}
 
 	// -- ExpressionParser methods --
@@ -217,4 +218,34 @@ public String statementSeparator() {
 		return statementSeparator;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Gets the starting ParsingNode based on Operators()
+	 *
+	 * @return the starting node of the DFA
+	 */
+	public ParsingNode<Operator> getParsingNodeOperatorStart() {
+		return parsingNodeOperatorStart;
+	}
+
+
+	/**
+	 * Creates a mini deterministic finite automaton (DFA) from the list of operators.
+	 * The DFA is used to identify operators in the given expression
+	 *
+	 * @return the starting node of the DFA
+	 */
+	public ParsingNode<Operator> buildParsingNodeOperator() {
+		final ParsingNode<Operator> startingParsingNodeOperator = new ParsingNode<>();
+		for (Operator op : operators()) {
+			String textToMatch = op.getToken();
+			int lengthMinusOne = textToMatch.length()-1;
+			ParsingNode<Operator> node = startingParsingNodeOperator;
+			for (int i = 0; i <= lengthMinusOne; i++) {
+				char ch = textToMatch.charAt(i);
+				node = node.addNextValue(ch, (i == lengthMinusOne) ? op : null);
+			}
+		}
+		return startingParsingNodeOperator;
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParseOperation.java b/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParseOperation.java
index 318c22d..fa15228 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParseOperation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParseOperation.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayDeque;
 import java.util.Deque;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.List;
 
 /** A stateful parsing operation. */
 public class ParseOperation {
@@ -43,7 +44,8 @@ public class ParseOperation {
 	protected final Position pos = new Position();
 	protected final Deque<Object> stack = new ArrayDeque<>();
 	protected final LinkedList<Object> outputQueue = new LinkedList<>();
-
+	// this is a copy of the value in ExpressionParser
+	private final ParsingNode<Operator> parsingNodeOperatorStart;
 	/**
 	 * State flag for parsing context.
 	 * <ul>
@@ -58,6 +60,7 @@ public ParseOperation(final ExpressionParser parser, final String expression)
 	{
 		this.parser = parser;
 		this.expression = expression;
+		parsingNodeOperatorStart = parser.getParsingNodeOperatorStart();
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -242,9 +245,18 @@ protected boolean isIdentifierPart(char c) {
 	 * @return The parsed operator, or null if the next token is not one.
 	 */
 	protected Operator parseOperator() {
-		for (final Operator op : parser.operators()) {
-			final String symbol = op.getToken();
-			if (operatorMatches(op, symbol)) return op;
+		ParsingNode<Operator> node = parsingNodeOperatorStart;
+		List<Operator> lastHit = null;
+		int ndx = pos.get();
+		int last = expression.length();
+		while ((ndx < last) && (node != null)) {
+			node = node.hasValueNext(expression.charAt(ndx++));
+			if (node != null) lastHit = node.payload;
+		}
+		if (lastHit != null) {
+			for (Operator op : lastHit) {
+				if (operatorMatches(op, op.getToken())) return op;
+			}
 		}
 		return null;
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParsingNode.java b/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParsingNode.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..701601c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/scijava/parsington/ParsingNode.java
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+package org.scijava.parsington;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Comparator;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * A simple deterministic finite automaton for parsing characters
+ *
+ * @author Jared Davis
+ */
+
+
+public class ParsingNode<T> {
+    // when payload is non-null, this node is equivalent to an accept state
+    List<T> payload = null;
+    // transitions to the next state, in value order
+    List<ParsingNode<T>> next = new ArrayList<>();
+    // starting ParsingNode value is not used
+    char value = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Get the next matching state.
+     * @param v The character to find in the next list.
+     * @return next ParsingNode that matches v or null when v is not found.
+     */
+    ParsingNode<T> hasValueNext(char v) {
+        int ndx = getIndex(v);
+        if (ndx >= 0) {
+            return next.get(ndx);
+        } else {
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the current value
+     *
+     * @return value of this ParsingNode
+     */
+    char getValue() {
+        return value;
+    }
+
+
+    // Use an int comparator to keep the next list in char order.
+    Comparator<ParsingNode<T>> vComparator = Comparator.comparingInt(ParsingNode::getValue);
+
+    /**
+     * Get index value of next list for char v.
+     * Performs a binarySearch of list next looking for v.
+     *
+     * @param v The character to index in the next list
+     * @return The index of v in the next list, if it is contained in the next list;
+     *         otherwise, (-(insertion point) - 1).
+     */
+    int getIndex(char v) {
+        ParsingNode<T> pn = new ParsingNode<T>();
+        pn.value = v;
+        return Collections.binarySearch(next, pn, vComparator);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Add a new next ParsingNode.
+     *
+     * @param v The character to add.
+     * @param action when non-null this defines an accept state.
+     * @return The ParsingNode that was added.
+     */
+
+    ParsingNode<T> addNextValue(char v, T action) {
+        int ndx = getIndex(v);
+        ParsingNode<T> n;
+        if (ndx >= 0) {
+            n = next.get(ndx);
+        } else {
+            n = new ParsingNode<T>();
+            n.value = v;
+            next.add(-ndx - 1, n);
+        }
+        if (action != null) {
+            if (n.payload == null) {
+                n.payload = new ArrayList<>(6);
+            }
+            n.payload.add(action);
+        }
+        return n;
+    }
+}