diff --git a/lisp/language/indian.el b/lisp/language/indian.el
index 8e2ac8a713a..e0adb0de6c3 100644
--- a/lisp/language/indian.el
+++ b/lisp/language/indian.el
@@ -354,8 +354,8 @@ South Indian language Malayalam is supported in this language environment."))
 	   ("X" . "[\u0D00-\u0D7F]"))))		  ; all coverage
     (indian-compose-regexp
      (concat
-      ;; any sequence of Malayalam characters, or
-      "X+\\|"
+      ;; any sequence of 2 or more Malayalam characters, or
+      "XX+\\|"
       ;; consonant-based syllables, or
       "C\\(?:J?HJ?C\\)*\\(?:H[NJ]?\\|v?A?\\)\\|"
       ;; syllables with an independent vowel, or