$ echo $PATH
/home/USERNAME/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/games

> set -x
> ls foo<tab>
...                     <--- lots of output removed
...
+ _quote_readline_by_ref foo quoted
+ '[' -z foo ']'
+ [[ foo == '* ]]      <--- froze here
+ [[ foo == ~* ]]       <--- actually causing the trouble

--- /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion.orig 2014-11-06 10:36:14.981888369 +0100
+++ /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion  2014-11-06 10:36:25.142070963 +0100
@@ -542,9 +542,9 @@
     elif [[ $1 == '* ]]; then
         # Leave out first character
         printf -v $2 %s "${1:1}"
-    elif [[ $1 == ~* ]]; then
+    elif [[ $1 == ~* ]]; then
         # avoid escaping first ~
-        printf -v $2 ~%q "${1:1}"
+        printf -v $2 ~%q "${1:1}"
     else
         printf -v $2 %q "$1"
     fi