diff --git a/lib/codemirror.js b/lib/codemirror.js
index 8801a44cb7b7baf92e3be3eb04f9da2dd6131e97..c13f954352036f68c60242d78ee44ffd8aa10277 100644
--- a/lib/codemirror.js
+++ b/lib/codemirror.js
@@ -7558,7 +7558,7 @@
     removeLineWidget: function(widget) { widget.clear(); },
 
     markText: function(from, to, options) {
-      return markText(this, clipPos(this, from), clipPos(this, to), options, "range");
+      return markText(this, clipPos(this, from), clipPos(this, to), options, options && options.type || "range");
     },
     setBookmark: function(pos, options) {
       var realOpts = {replacedWith: options && (options.nodeType == null ? options.widget : options),