diff --git a/src/eval/eval_ir.c b/src/eval/eval_ir.c
index b3aa726c..da9157cb 100644
--- a/src/eval/eval_ir.c
+++ b/src/eval/eval_ir.c
@@ -574,6 +574,7 @@ E_TYPE_ACCESS_FUNCTION_DEF(default)
           
           // rjf: ops to compute the final address
           new_tree = e_irtree_binary_op_u(arena, RDI_EvalOp_Add, offset_tree, base_tree);
+          mode = E_Mode_Offset;
         }
       }
       
diff --git a/src/eval/eval_parse.c b/src/eval/eval_parse.c
index ed79b907..a82b01db 100644
--- a/src/eval/eval_parse.c
+++ b/src/eval/eval_parse.c
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ e_push_parse_from_string_tokens__prec(Arena *arena, String8 text, E_TokenArray t
         ////////////////////////
         //- rjf: descent to assembly-style dereference sub-expression [...]
         //
-        if(!got_new_atom)
+        if(atom == &e_expr_nil && !got_new_atom)
         {
           E_Token token = e_token_at_it(it, &tokens);
           String8 token_string = str8_substr(text, token.range);