diff --git a/core/bootstrap/syntax.factor b/core/bootstrap/syntax.factor
index 3a99923b9e..8bd950f3dd 100644
--- a/core/bootstrap/syntax.factor
+++ b/core/bootstrap/syntax.factor
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ IN: bootstrap.syntax
         ":"
         ";"
         "<PRIVATE"
-        "BIN:"
         "B{"
         "BV{"
         "C:"
@@ -26,7 +25,6 @@ IN: bootstrap.syntax
         "FORGET:"
         "GENERIC#"
         "GENERIC:"
-        "HEX:"
         "HOOK:"
         "H{"
         "HS{"
@@ -37,7 +35,6 @@ IN: bootstrap.syntax
         "MATH:"
         "MIXIN:"
         "NAN:"
-        "OCT:"
         "P\""
         "POSTPONE:"
         "PREDICATE:"
diff --git a/core/math/parser/parser-docs.factor b/core/math/parser/parser-docs.factor
index 06d66582e4..b7f4cd2fd6 100644
--- a/core/math/parser/parser-docs.factor
+++ b/core/math/parser/parser-docs.factor
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ HELP: bin>
 $nl
 "Outputs " { $link f } " if the string does not represent a number." } ;
 
-{ >bin POSTPONE: BIN: bin> .b } related-words
+{ >bin bin> .b } related-words
 
 HELP: oct>
 { $values { "str" string } { "n/f" "a real number or " { $link f } } }
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ HELP: oct>
 $nl
 "Outputs " { $link f } " if the string does not represent a number." } ;
 
-{ >oct POSTPONE: OCT: oct> .o } related-words
+{ >oct oct> .o } related-words
 
 HELP: hex>
 { $values { "str" string } { "n/f" "a real number or " { $link f } } }
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ HELP: hex>
 $nl
 "Outputs " { $link f } " if the string does not represent a number." } ;
 
-{ >hex POSTPONE: HEX: hex> .h } related-words
+{ >hex hex> .h } related-words
 
 HELP: >base
 { $values { "n" real } { "radix" "an integer between 2 and 16" } { "str" string } }
diff --git a/core/syntax/syntax.factor b/core/syntax/syntax.factor
index c780abe0eb..361fc0769c 100644
--- a/core/syntax/syntax.factor
+++ b/core/syntax/syntax.factor
@@ -70,10 +70,6 @@ IN: bootstrap.syntax
         scan-token scan-token "=>" expect scan-token add-renamed-word
     ] define-core-syntax
 
-    "HEX:" [ 16 parse-base ] define-core-syntax
-    "OCT:" [ 8 parse-base ] define-core-syntax
-    "BIN:" [ 2 parse-base ] define-core-syntax
-
     "NAN:" [ 16 scan-base <fp-nan> suffix! ] define-core-syntax
 
     "f" [ f suffix! ] define-core-syntax