diff --git a/src/uxnasm.c b/src/uxnasm.c
index b4243d6..e5e6a35 100644
--- a/src/uxnasm.c
+++ b/src/uxnasm.c
@@ -343,8 +343,8 @@ parse(char *w, FILE *f)
 		while((c = w[++i]))
 			if(!writebyte(c)) return 0;
 		break;
-	case '[': break; /* ignored */
-	case ']': break; /* ignored */
+	case '[': if (slen(w) == 1) break; /* else FALLTHROUGH */
+	case ']': if (slen(w) == 1) break; /* else FALLTHROUGH */
 	default:
 		/* opcode */
 		if(findopcode(w) || scmp(w, "BRK", 4)) {