diff --git a/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor
index d8da3af766..e844ff2afe 100644
--- a/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor
+++ b/core/io/encodings/utf16/utf16.factor
@@ -160,7 +160,8 @@ M: utf16 <decoder> ( stream utf16 -- decoder )
 M: utf16 <encoder> ( stream utf16 -- encoder )
     drop bom-le over stream-write utf16le <encoder> ;
 
+: le? ( -- ? ) B{ 1 0 0 0 } 0 alien-unsigned-4 1 = ; foldable
+
 PRIVATE>
 
-: utf16n ( -- value )
-    B{ 1 0 0 0 } 0 alien-unsigned-4 1 = utf16le utf16be ? ; foldable
+: utf16n ( -- value ) le? utf16le utf16be ? ;