diff --git a/core/modern/modern.factor b/core/modern/modern.factor
index af002e9e15..04c0e4864c 100644
--- a/core/modern/modern.factor
+++ b/core/modern/modern.factor
@@ -452,14 +452,14 @@ ERROR: mismatched-terminator lexer slice ;
     ] if ;
 
 : gt-terminator ( lexer slice -- slice/f )
-    dupd merge-lex-til-whitespace dup top-level-greater-than? [
+    dup top-level-greater-than? [
         2dup [ dup peek-tag ] dip delimiters-match? [
             nip terminator-literal make-tag-class-literal
         ] [
             roll-back-lexer f
         ] if
     ] [
-        nip make-tag-literal
+        >>partial [ 1 + ] change-n lex-factor
     ] if ;
 
 : ?blank? ( ch/f -- blank/f )
diff --git a/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor b/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor
index aa2c90d79f..c70dfd550d 100644
--- a/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor
+++ b/core/modern/out/out-tests.factor
@@ -78,3 +78,6 @@ in: modern.out.tests
 { t } [ "a!" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
 { t } [ "!" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
 { t } [ "!a" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
+
+{ t } [ "->[ ]" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
+{ t } [ "abc>[ ]" rewrite-same-string ] unit-test
\ No newline at end of file