diff --git a/src/identifiers.md b/src/identifiers.md
index 88d3f2071..e57be8407 100644
--- a/src/identifiers.md
+++ b/src/identifiers.md
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 > **<sup>Lexer:<sup>**\
 > IDENTIFIER_OR_KEYWORD :\
-> &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; \[`a`-`z` `A`-`Z`]&nbsp;\[`a`-`z` `A`-`Z` `0`-`9` `_`]<sup>\*</sup>\
-> &nbsp;&nbsp; | `_` \[`a`-`z` `A`-`Z` `0`-`9` `_`]<sup>+</sup>
+> &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; XID_start XID_continue<sup>\*</sup>\
+> &nbsp;&nbsp; | `_` XID_continue<sup>+</sup>
 >
 > RAW_IDENTIFIER : `r#` IDENTIFIER_OR_KEYWORD <sub>*Except `crate`, `self`, `super`, `Self`*</sub>
 >
@@ -12,18 +12,22 @@
 > IDENTIFIER :\
 > NON_KEYWORD_IDENTIFIER | RAW_IDENTIFIER
 
-An identifier is any nonempty ASCII string of the following form:
+An identifier is any nonempty Unicode string of the following form:
 
 Either
 
-* The first character is a letter.
-* The remaining characters are alphanumeric or `_`.
+* The first character has property [`XID_start`].
+* The remaining characters have property [`XID_continue`].
 
 Or
 
 * The first character is `_`.
 * The identifier is more than one character. `_` alone is not an identifier.
-* The remaining characters are alphanumeric or `_`.
+* The remaining characters have property [`XID_continue`].
+
+> **Note**: [`XID_start`] and [`XID_continue`] as character properties cover the
+> character ranges used to form the more familiar C and Java language-family
+> identifiers.
 
 A raw identifier is like a normal identifier, but prefixed by `r#`. (Note that
 the `r#` prefix is not included as part of the actual identifier.)
@@ -32,3 +36,5 @@ keyword except the ones listed above for `RAW_IDENTIFIER`.
 
 [strict]: keywords.md#strict-keywords
 [reserved]: keywords.md#reserved-keywords
+[`XID_start`]:  http://unicode.org/cldr/utility/list-unicodeset.jsp?a=%5B%3AXID_Start%3A%5D&abb=on&g=&i=
+[`XID_continue`]: http://unicode.org/cldr/utility/list-unicodeset.jsp?a=%5B%3AXID_Continue%3A%5D&abb=on&g=&i=