diff --git a/lib/prelude.ml b/lib/prelude.ml
index 36cc40de..52db7810 100644
--- a/lib/prelude.ml
+++ b/lib/prelude.ml
@@ -554,11 +554,11 @@ let source = {flan|
 ;; in. Owned by the caller: (free v), or let a (free-all a) take the region.
 ;;
 ;; This is the one that proves the containers and the generics compose. It
-;; allocates — (vec-new t), push, returns (Vec t) — and the type-erased Vec
+;; allocates — (vec-new $t), push, returns (Vec $t) — and the type-erased Vec
 ;; runtime needed no change at all, because SizeOf and AlignOf are computed at
 ;; the instantiation site, where the element type is concrete.
 (defn filter [s [const $t]  keep? (Fn [$t] bool)] (Vec $t)
-  (let [v (vec-new t)]
+  (let [v (vec-new $t)]
     (dotimes [i (length s)]
       (when (keep? (at s i))
         (push v (at s i))))
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ let source = {flan|
 ;; the map's own key bytes and is good for as long as they are.
 (defn map-keys [m (Map $k $v)] (Vec $k)
   {:where (hashable? $k)}
-  (let [out (vec-new k)
+  (let [out (vec-new $k)
         cur (i64 0)
         key (the $k (zeroed))
         val (the $v (zeroed))]
@@ -580,7 +580,7 @@ let source = {flan|
 
 (defn map-values [m (Map $k $v)] (Vec $v)
   {:where (hashable? $k)}
-  (let [out (vec-new v)
+  (let [out (vec-new $v)
         cur (i64 0)
         key (the $k (zeroed))
         val (the $v (zeroed))]
diff --git a/test/programs/map-keys.flan b/test/programs/map-keys.flan
index 6bd61733..7e9baf81 100644
--- a/test/programs/map-keys.flan
+++ b/test/programs/map-keys.flan
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 ;; map-keys and map-values: the prelude's two generic walks over a map. Block
 ;; order is the hash's, so what comes back is sorted before it is printed.
+;;
+;; The three globals are named after the prelude's type variables. A generic's
+;; body names its element type as $t, $k or $v, never bare, because a bare
+;; name there is an expression and would find these.
+(defonce t i32 0)
+(defonce k i32 0)
+(defonce v i32 0)
 
 (defn main [] i32
   (let [m (map-new i32 i64)]