diff --git a/basis/lists/lists.factor b/basis/lists/lists.factor
index f0352e8b8d..66282c58b3 100644
--- a/basis/lists/lists.factor
+++ b/basis/lists/lists.factor
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2008 James Cash, Daniel Ehrenberg, Chris Double.
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: accessors combinators combinators.short-circuit kernel
-lexer locals make math parser sequences words ;
+lexer locals make math namespaces parser sequences words ;
 IN: lists
 
 ! List Protocol
@@ -114,10 +114,13 @@ ERROR: list-syntax-error ;
         <reversed> unclip-slice [ swons ] reduce
     ] if-empty ;
 
+: ?list-syntax-error ( right-of-dot? -- )
+    building get empty? or [ list-syntax-error ] when ;
+
 : (parse-list-literal) ( right-of-dot? -- )
     scan-token {
         { "}" [ drop +nil+ , ] }
-        { "." [ [ list-syntax-error ] when t (parse-list-literal) ] }
+        { "." [ ?list-syntax-error t (parse-list-literal) ] }
         [
             parse-datum dup parsing-word? [
                 V{ } clone swap execute-parsing first