diff --git a/ace.d.ts b/ace.d.ts
index 81ab5adb784..c1dfce7d6a0 100644
--- a/ace.d.ts
+++ b/ace.d.ts
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ export namespace Ace {
     relativeLineNumbers: boolean;
     enableMultiselect: boolean;
     enableKeyboardAccessibility: boolean;
+    filterStringsCompletions: boolean;
   }
 
   export interface SearchOptions {
diff --git a/src/autocomplete/text_completer.js b/src/autocomplete/text_completer.js
index 583182da51f..8084043752e 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete/text_completer.js
+++ b/src/autocomplete/text_completer.js
@@ -37,20 +37,20 @@ function wordDistance(doc, pos) {
     return wordScores;
 }
 
-function completionsFromMode(session, pos) {
-    var completerTokens = session.$mode.$completerTokens;
+function filterStringsFromCompletions(session, pos) {
+    var filterRegExp = /string|comment|^comment\.doc.*/;
     var lines = session.bgTokenizer.lines;
-    var exclude = lines[pos.row].find(el => el.start === pos.column - el.value.length);
+    var exclude = lines[pos.row] && lines[pos.row].find(el => el.start === pos.column - el.value.length);
     var wordScores = Object.create(null);
 
-    lines = lines.flat();
-    var linesLength = lines.length;
+    var flatLines = lines.flat();
+    var linesLength = flatLines.length;
     for (var i = 0; i < linesLength; i++) {
-        var token = lines[i];
+        var token = flatLines[i];
         if (!token || exclude && token.value === exclude.value) {
             continue;
         }
-        if (completerTokens.includes(token.type) && identifierRe.test(token.value)) {
+        if (!filterRegExp.test(token.type) && identifierRe.test(token.value)) {
             wordScores[token.value] = 0;
         }
     }
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ function completionsFromMode(session, pos) {
 }
 
 exports.getCompletions = function (editor, session, pos, prefix, callback) {
-    var wordScore = session.$mode.$completerTokens ? completionsFromMode(session, pos) : wordDistance(session, pos);
+    var wordScore = editor.$filterStringsCompletions ? filterStringsFromCompletions(session, pos) : wordDistance(
+        session, pos);
     var wordList = Object.keys(wordScore);
 
     callback(null, wordList.map(function (word) {
diff --git a/src/autocomplete_test.js b/src/autocomplete_test.js
index 34a1e479e00..3b8ff27335a 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete_test.js
+++ b/src/autocomplete_test.js
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ var user = require("./test/user");
 var Range = require("./range").Range;
 require("./ext/language_tools");
 var Autocomplete = require("./autocomplete").Autocomplete;
+var textCompleter = require("./autocomplete/text_completer");
+var JavaScriptMode = require("./mode/javascript").Mode;
 
 var editor;
-function initEditor(value) {
+function initEditor(value, mode) {
     if (editor) {
         editor.destroy();
         editor.container.remove();
@@ -24,7 +26,8 @@ function initEditor(value) {
         value: value,
         maxLines: 10,
         enableBasicAutocompletion: true,
-        enableLiveAutocompletion: true
+        enableLiveAutocompletion: true,
+        mode: mode
     });
     document.body.appendChild(editor.container);
     editor.focus();
@@ -162,6 +165,26 @@ module.exports = {
             done();
         });
     },
+    "test: filter strings and comments from local completions list": function (done) {
+        var editor = initEditor("//comment here\n /**\n * doc comment\n**/'string'\nsomeIdentifier\n", new JavaScriptMode());
+        editor.completers = [textCompleter];
+        editor.moveCursorTo(3, 0);
+        editor.renderer.$loop._flush();
+        
+        sendKey("o");
+        var popup = editor.completer.popup;
+        afterRenderCheck(popup, function () {
+            assert.equal(popup.data.length, 3);
+            editor.setOption("filterStringsCompletions", true);
+            editor.onCommandKey(null, 0, 13);
+            sendKey(" ");
+            sendKey("o");
+            afterRenderCheck(popup, function () {
+                assert.equal(popup.data.length, 1); //only identifier left
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+    },
     "test: different completers tooltips": function (done) {
         var editor = initEditor("");
         var firstDoc = "<b>First</b>";
diff --git a/src/ext/language_tools.js b/src/ext/language_tools.js
index 0f6b9941b5e..d5384f366c5 100644
--- a/src/ext/language_tools.js
+++ b/src/ext/language_tools.js
@@ -221,5 +221,8 @@ require("../config").defineOptions(Editor.prototype, "editor", {
             }
         },
         value: false
+    },
+    filterStringsCompletions: {
+        initialValue: false
     }
 });
diff --git a/src/ext/options.js b/src/ext/options.js
index f82b82dcc5e..75c774c9a44 100644
--- a/src/ext/options.js
+++ b/src/ext/options.js
@@ -192,6 +192,9 @@ var optionGroups = {
         "Live Autocompletion": {
             path: "enableLiveAutocompletion"
         },
+        "Filter Comments and String Completions": {
+            path: "filterStringsCompletions"
+        },
         "Custom scrollbar": {
             path: "customScrollbar"
         },
diff --git a/src/mode/javascript.js b/src/mode/javascript.js
index 7db7a892cc9..8f3ba56da7c 100644
--- a/src/mode/javascript.js
+++ b/src/mode/javascript.js
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ oop.inherits(Mode, TextMode);
     this.$pairQuotesAfter = {
         "`": /\w/
     };
-    this.$completerTokens = ["identifier", "entity.name.function", "storage.type", "variable.parameter"];
 
     this.getNextLineIndent = function(state, line, tab) {
         var indent = this.$getIndent(line);