diff --git a/src/backend/parser/gram.y b/src/backend/parser/gram.y
index 989db0dbec..969c9c158f 100644
--- a/src/backend/parser/gram.y
+++ b/src/backend/parser/gram.y
@@ -17940,6 +17940,7 @@ unreserved_keyword:
 			| STORAGE
 			| STORED
 			| STRICT_P
+			| STRING
 			| STRIP_P
 			| SUBSCRIPTION
 			| SUPPORT
@@ -18098,7 +18099,6 @@ type_func_name_keyword:
 			| OVERLAPS
 			| RIGHT
 			| SIMILAR
-			| STRING
 			| TABLESAMPLE
 			| VERBOSE
 		;
diff --git a/src/include/parser/kwlist.h b/src/include/parser/kwlist.h
index 8a2ab405a2..ae35f03251 100644
--- a/src/include/parser/kwlist.h
+++ b/src/include/parser/kwlist.h
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ PG_KEYWORD("stdout", STDOUT, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
 PG_KEYWORD("storage", STORAGE, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
 PG_KEYWORD("stored", STORED, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
 PG_KEYWORD("strict", STRICT_P, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
-PG_KEYWORD("string", STRING, TYPE_FUNC_NAME_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
+PG_KEYWORD("string", STRING, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
 PG_KEYWORD("strip", STRIP_P, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
 PG_KEYWORD("subscription", SUBSCRIPTION, UNRESERVED_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
 PG_KEYWORD("substring", SUBSTRING, COL_NAME_KEYWORD, BARE_LABEL)
diff --git a/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/ecpg.trailer b/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/ecpg.trailer
index daf979a8e8..b95fc44314 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/ecpg.trailer
+++ b/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/ecpg.trailer
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ type_declaration: S_TYPEDEF
 		/* an initializer specified */
 		initializer = 0;
 	}
-	var_type opt_pointer ECPGColLabelCommon opt_array_bounds ';'
+	var_type opt_pointer ECPGColLabel opt_array_bounds ';'
 	{
 		add_typedef($5, $6.index1, $6.index2, $3.type_enum, $3.type_dimension, $3.type_index, initializer, *$4 ? 1 : 0);
 
@@ -701,6 +701,43 @@ var_type:	simple_type
 				struct_member_list[struct_level] = ECPGstruct_member_dup(this->struct_member_list);
 			}
 		}
+		| STRING
+		{
+			/*
+			 * It's quite horrid that ECPGColLabelCommon excludes
+			 * unreserved_keyword, meaning that unreserved keywords can't be
+			 * used as type names in var_type.  However, this is hard to avoid
+			 * since what follows ecpgstart can be either a random SQL
+			 * statement or an ECPGVarDeclaration (beginning with var_type).
+			 * Pending a bright idea about how to fix that, we must
+			 * special-case STRING (and any other unreserved keywords that are
+			 * likely to be needed here).
+			 */
+			if (INFORMIX_MODE)
+			{
+				$$.type_enum = ECPGt_string;
+				$$.type_str = mm_strdup("char");
+				$$.type_dimension = mm_strdup("-1");
+				$$.type_index = mm_strdup("-1");
+				$$.type_sizeof = NULL;
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				/* this is for typedef'ed types */
+				struct typedefs *this = get_typedef("string");
+
+				$$.type_str = (this->type->type_enum == ECPGt_varchar || this->type->type_enum == ECPGt_bytea) ? EMPTY : mm_strdup(this->name);
+				$$.type_enum = this->type->type_enum;
+				$$.type_dimension = this->type->type_dimension;
+				$$.type_index = this->type->type_index;
+				if (this->type->type_sizeof && strlen(this->type->type_sizeof) != 0)
+					$$.type_sizeof = this->type->type_sizeof;
+				else
+					$$.type_sizeof = cat_str(3, mm_strdup("sizeof("), mm_strdup(this->name), mm_strdup(")"));
+
+				struct_member_list[struct_level] = ECPGstruct_member_dup(this->struct_member_list);
+			}
+		}
 		| s_struct_union_symbol
 		{
 			/* this is for named structs/unions */
@@ -1342,7 +1379,7 @@ ECPGTypedef: TYPE_P
 			/* an initializer specified */
 			initializer = 0;
 		}
-		ECPGColLabelCommon IS var_type opt_array_bounds opt_reference
+		ECPGColLabel IS var_type opt_array_bounds opt_reference
 		{
 			add_typedef($3, $6.index1, $6.index2, $5.type_enum, $5.type_dimension, $5.type_index, initializer, *$7 ? 1 : 0);