diff --git a/basis/cpu/x86/assembler/syntax/syntax.factor b/basis/cpu/x86/assembler/syntax/syntax.factor
index 9f9cea506b..185d892ce7 100644
--- a/basis/cpu/x86/assembler/syntax/syntax.factor
+++ b/basis/cpu/x86/assembler/syntax/syntax.factor
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ registers [ H{ } clone ] initialize
     '[ _ + _ define-register ] map-index ;
 
 : define-registers ( names size -- )
-    [ [ 0 ] dip (define-registers) ] [ drop ] 2bi registers get set-at ;
+    [ [ 0 ] dip (define-registers) ] keep registers get set-at ;
 
 SYNTAX: REGISTERS:
     scan-word [ ";" parse-tokens ] dip define-registers ;