diff --git a/addons/account/views/account_move_views.xml b/addons/account/views/account_move_views.xml
index 7d5116f93fc..47321ee5ad0 100644
--- a/addons/account/views/account_move_views.xml
+++ b/addons/account/views/account_move_views.xml
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@
                                            placeholder="Terms"
                                            attrs="{'invisible': [('type', 'not in', ('out_invoice', 'out_refund', 'in_invoice', 'in_refund', 'out_receipt', 'in_receipt'))]}"/>
                                     <span class="o_form_label mx-3 oe_edit_only"
-                                          attrs="{'invisible': [ '|', '|', '|', ('state', '!=', 'draft'), ('invoice_payment_term_id', '!=', False), ('type', 'not in', ('out_invoice', 'out_refund', 'in_invoice', 'in_refund', 'out_receipt', 'in_receipt'))]}"> or </span>
+                                          attrs="{'invisible': [ '|', '|', ('state', '!=', 'draft'), ('invoice_payment_term_id', '!=', False), ('type', 'not in', ('out_invoice', 'out_refund', 'in_invoice', 'in_refund', 'out_receipt', 'in_receipt'))]}"> or </span>
                                     <field name="invoice_date_due" force_save="1"
                                            placeholder="Date"
                                            attrs="{'invisible': ['|', ('invoice_payment_term_id', '!=', False), ('type', 'not in', ('out_invoice', 'out_refund', 'in_invoice', 'in_refund', 'out_receipt', 'in_receipt'))]}"/>
@@ -1024,7 +1024,7 @@
                     </sheet>
                     <!-- Attachment preview -->
                     <div class="o_attachment_preview"
-                         attrs="{'invisible': ['|', '|',
+                         attrs="{'invisible': ['|',
                                 ('type', 'not in', ('out_invoice', 'out_refund', 'in_invoice', 'in_refund')),
                                 ('state', '!=', 'draft')]}" />
                     <!-- Chatter -->
diff --git a/addons/account/views/account_view.xml b/addons/account/views/account_view.xml
index 77592e57e53..78e01b03510 100644
--- a/addons/account/views/account_view.xml
+++ b/addons/account/views/account_view.xml
@@ -612,12 +612,12 @@ action = model.setting_init_bank_account_action()
                             <label for="balance_start"/>
                             <div>
                                 <field class="oe_inline" name="balance_start"/>
-                                <button name="open_cashbox_id" attrs="{'invisible': ['|','|',('state','!=','open'),('journal_type','!=','cash')]}" string="&#8594; Count" type="object" class="oe_edit_only oe_link oe_inline" context="{'balance':'start'}"/>
+                                <button name="open_cashbox_id" attrs="{'invisible': ['|',('state','!=','open'),('journal_type','!=','cash')]}" string="&#8594; Count" type="object" class="oe_edit_only oe_link oe_inline" context="{'balance':'start'}"/>
                             </div>
                             <label for="balance_end_real"/>
                             <div>
                                 <field class="oe_inline" name="balance_end_real"/>
-                                <button name="open_cashbox_id" attrs="{'invisible': ['|','|',('state','!=','open'),('journal_type','!=','cash')]}" string="&#8594; Count" type="object" class="oe_edit_only oe_link oe_inline" context="{'balance':'close'}"/>
+                                <button name="open_cashbox_id" attrs="{'invisible': ['|',('state','!=','open'),('journal_type','!=','cash')]}" string="&#8594; Count" type="object" class="oe_edit_only oe_link oe_inline" context="{'balance':'close'}"/>
                             </div>
                         </group>
                     </group>
diff --git a/addons/hr/views/res_users.xml b/addons/hr/views/res_users.xml
index 17c7f58cd1e..2caff4a2b82 100644
--- a/addons/hr/views/res_users.xml
+++ b/addons/hr/views/res_users.xml
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
                                 class="oe_stat_button"
                                 disabled="1"
                                 invisible="context.get('from_my_profile', False)"
-                                attrs="{'invisible': ['|', ('hr_presence_state', '=', 'absent')]}">
+                                attrs="{'invisible': [('hr_presence_state', '=', 'absent')]}">
                                 <div role="img" class="fa fa-fw fa-circle text-success o_button_icon" attrs="{'invisible': [('hr_presence_state', '!=', 'present')]}" aria-label="Available" title="Available"/>
                                 <div role="img" class="fa fa-fw fa-circle text-warning o_button_icon" attrs="{'invisible': [('hr_presence_state', '!=', 'to_define')]}" aria-label="Away" title="Away"/>
                                 <div role="img" class="fa fa-fw fa-circle text-danger o_button_icon" attrs="{'invisible': [('hr_presence_state', '!=', 'absent')]}" aria-label="Not available" title="Not available"/>
diff --git a/addons/hr_attendance/views/hr_employee_view.xml b/addons/hr_attendance/views/hr_employee_view.xml
index 665a8ed0a98..abfc22d1493 100644
--- a/addons/hr_attendance/views/hr_employee_view.xml
+++ b/addons/hr_attendance/views/hr_employee_view.xml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
         <field name="arch" type="xml">
             <xpath expr="//button[@id='hr_presence_button']" position="attributes">
                 <attribute name="attrs">
-                    {'invisible': ['|', '|', ('hr_presence_state', '=', 'absent'), ('attendance_state', '=', 'checked_in')]}
+                    {'invisible': ['|', ('hr_presence_state', '=', 'absent'), ('attendance_state', '=', 'checked_in')]}
                 </attribute>
             </xpath>
             <xpath expr="//div[@name='button_box']" position="inside">
diff --git a/addons/mail/wizard/mail_compose_message_view.xml b/addons/mail/wizard/mail_compose_message_view.xml
index cee9c5a7d58..1e9b0a693ff 100644
--- a/addons/mail/wizard/mail_compose_message_view.xml
+++ b/addons/mail/wizard/mail_compose_message_view.xml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
                         <field name="subject" placeholder="Subject..." required="True"/>
                         <!-- mass post -->
                         <field name="notify"
-                            attrs="{'invisible':['|', ('composition_mode', '!=', 'mass_post')]}"/>
+                            attrs="{'invisible':[('composition_mode', '!=', 'mass_post')]}"/>
                         <!-- mass mailing -->
                         <field name="no_auto_thread" attrs="{'invisible':[('composition_mode', '!=', 'mass_mail')]}"/>
                         <field name="reply_to" placeholder="Email address to redirect replies..."
diff --git a/addons/stock/views/product_views.xml b/addons/stock/views/product_views.xml
index e0053104529..bd79c551702 100644
--- a/addons/stock/views/product_views.xml
+++ b/addons/stock/views/product_views.xml
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@
                     <!-- change attrs of fields added in view_template_property_form
                     to restrict the display for templates -->
                     <xpath expr="//group[@name='group_lots_and_weight']" position="attributes">
-                        <attribute name="attrs">{'invisible':['|', ('type', 'not in', ['product', 'consu'])]}</attribute>
+                        <attribute name="attrs">{'invisible': [('type', 'not in', ['product', 'consu'])]}</attribute>
                     </xpath>
 
                     <xpath expr="//group[@name='group_lots_and_weight']" position="inside">
diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/js/core/domain.js b/addons/web/static/src/js/core/domain.js
index b54dd54d0b6..0db9847645d 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/js/core/domain.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/js/core/domain.js
@@ -383,8 +383,10 @@ var Domain = collections.Tree.extend({
      *                       to normalize (! will be normalized in-place)
      * @returns {Array} the normalized JS prefix-array representation of the
      *                  given domain
+     * @throws {Error} if the domain is invalid and can't be normalised
      */
     normalizeArray: function (domain) {
+        if (domain.length === 0) { return domain; }
         var expected = 1;
         _.each(domain, function (item) {
             if (item === "&" || item === "|") {
@@ -395,6 +397,11 @@ var Domain = collections.Tree.extend({
         });
         if (expected < 0) {
             domain.unshift.apply(domain, _.times(Math.abs(expected), _.constant("&")));
+        } else if (expected > 0) {
+            throw new Error(_.str.sprintf(
+                "invalid domain %s (missing %d segment(s))",
+                JSON.stringify(domain), expected
+            ));
         }
         return domain;
     },
diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js b/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js
index 1ed8c36bb98..532af65744c 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_model.js
@@ -2259,31 +2259,27 @@ var BasicModel = AbstractModel.extend({
      *   context.
      * @param {Object} modifiers
      * @returns {Object}
+     * @throws {Error} if one of the modifier domains is invalid
      */
     _evalModifiers: function (element, modifiers) {
-        var result = {};
-        var self = this;
-        var evalContext;
-        function evalModifier(mod) {
+        let evalContext = null;
+        const evaluated = {};
+        for (const k of ['invisible', 'column_invisible', 'readonly', 'required']) {
+            const mod = modifiers[k];
             if (mod === undefined || mod === false || mod === true) {
-                return !!mod;
+                if (k in modifiers) {
+                    evaluated[k] = !!mod;
+                }
+                continue;
+            }
+            try {
+                evalContext = evalContext || this._getEvalContext(element);
+                evaluated[k] = new Domain(mod, evalContext).compute(evalContext);
+            } catch (e) {
+                throw new Error(_.str.sprintf('for modifier "%s": %s', k, e.message));
             }
-            evalContext = evalContext || self._getEvalContext(element);
-            return new Domain(mod, evalContext).compute(evalContext);
         }
-        if ('invisible' in modifiers) {
-            result.invisible = evalModifier(modifiers.invisible);
-        }
-        if ('column_invisible' in modifiers) {
-            result.column_invisible = evalModifier(modifiers.column_invisible);
-        }
-        if ('readonly' in modifiers) {
-            result.readonly = evalModifier(modifiers.readonly);
-        }
-        if ('required' in modifiers) {
-            result.required = evalModifier(modifiers.required);
-        }
-        return result;
+        return evaluated;
     },
     /**
      * Fetch all name_gets for the many2ones in a group
diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_renderer.js b/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_renderer.js
index 046d10a741f..ba407b766c1 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_renderer.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/js/views/basic/basic_renderer.js
@@ -547,6 +547,7 @@ var BasicRenderer = AbstractRenderer.extend(WidgetAdapterMixin, {
      *   value (if not given, it is set to this.mode, the mode of the renderer)
      * @returns {Object} for code efficiency, returns the last evaluated
      *   modifiers for the given node and record.
+     * @throws {Error} if one of the modifier domains is not valid
      */
     _registerModifiers: function (node, record, element, options) {
         options = options || {};
@@ -575,7 +576,15 @@ var BasicRenderer = AbstractRenderer.extend(WidgetAdapterMixin, {
 
         // Evaluate if necessary
         if (!modifiersData.evaluatedModifiers[record.id]) {
-            modifiersData.evaluatedModifiers[record.id] = record.evalModifiers(modifiersData.modifiers);
+            try {
+                modifiersData.evaluatedModifiers[record.id] = record.evalModifiers(modifiersData.modifiers);
+            } catch (e) {
+                throw new Error(_.str.sprintf(
+                    "While parsing modifiers for %s%s: %s",
+                    node.tag, node.tag === 'field' ? ' ' + node.attrs.name : '',
+                    e.message
+                ));
+            }
         }
 
         // Element might not be given yet (a second call to the function can
@@ -597,7 +606,7 @@ var BasicRenderer = AbstractRenderer.extend(WidgetAdapterMixin, {
             }
             modifiersData.elementsByRecord[record.id].push(newElement);
 
-            this._applyModifiers(modifiersData, record, newElement, options);
+            this._applyModifiers(modifiersData, record, newElement);
         }
 
         return modifiersData.evaluatedModifiers[record.id];
diff --git a/addons/web/static/tests/core/domain_tests.js b/addons/web/static/tests/core/domain_tests.js
index a9c7ac48ece..e9ee5f80cf6 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/tests/core/domain_tests.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/tests/core/domain_tests.js
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ QUnit.module('core', {}, function () {
 
     QUnit.module('domain');
 
+    QUnit.test("empty", function (assert) {
+        assert.expect(1);
+        assert.ok(new Domain([]).compute({}));
+    });
+
     QUnit.test("basic", function (assert) {
         assert.expect(3);
 
@@ -59,6 +64,22 @@ QUnit.module('core', {}, function () {
         assert.notOk(new Domain(0).compute({}));
     });
 
+    QUnit.test("invalid domains should not succeed", function (assert) {
+        assert.expect(3);
+        assert.throws(
+            () => new Domain(['|', ['hr_presence_state', '=', 'absent']]),
+            /invalid domain .* \(missing 1 segment/
+        );
+        assert.throws(
+            () => new Domain(['|', '|', ['hr_presence_state', '=', 'absent'], ['attendance_state', '=', 'checked_in']]),
+            /invalid domain .* \(missing 1 segment/
+        );
+        assert.throws(
+            () => new Domain(['&', ['composition_mode', '!=', 'mass_post']]),
+            /invalid domain .* \(missing 1 segment/
+        );
+    });
+
     QUnit.test("domain <=> condition", function (assert) {
         assert.expect(3);