diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/parser.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/parser.go
index 51d04f59fe..d210386837 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/parser.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/parser.go
@@ -1386,7 +1386,7 @@ func (p *parser) pseudocall() *Node {
 		defer p.trace("pseudocall")()
 	}
 
-	x := p.pexpr(true) // keep_parens so we can report error below
+	x := p.pexpr(p.tok == '(') // keep_parens so we can report error below
 	switch x.Op {
 	case OCALL:
 		return x