diff --git a/lib/api/traversing.js b/lib/api/traversing.js
index 3af89b6bd5..df0c0558b7 100644
--- a/lib/api/traversing.js
+++ b/lib/api/traversing.js
@@ -4,12 +4,7 @@ var _ = require('underscore'),
     isTag = utils.isTag;
 
 var find = exports.find = function(selector) {
-  try {
-    var elem = select(selector, [].slice.call(this.children()));
-    return this.make(elem);
-  } catch(e) {
-    return this.make([]);
-  }
+  return this.make(select(selector, [].slice.call(this.children())));
 };
 
 var parent = exports.parent = function(elem) {
diff --git a/test/api.traversing.js b/test/api.traversing.js
index 19efa3b746..4242337b51 100644
--- a/test/api.traversing.js
+++ b/test/api.traversing.js
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ describe('$(...)', function() {
       expect($('#fruits').find('li')).to.have.length(0);
     });
 
+    it('should throw a SyntaxError if given an invalid selector', function() {
+      expect(function() {
+        $('#fruits').find(':bah');
+      }).to.throwException(function(err) {
+        expect(err).to.be.a(SyntaxError);
+      });
+    });
+
   });
 
   describe('.children', function() {