diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
index 3e2b1827b2..656c406357 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ pub fn parse_def(
         for arg_name in &signature.optional_positional {
             verify_not_reserved_variable_name(working_set, &arg_name.name, sig.span);
         }
-        for arg_name in &signature.rest_positional {
+        if let Some(arg_name) = &signature.rest_positional {
             verify_not_reserved_variable_name(working_set, &arg_name.name, sig.span);
         }
         for flag_name in &signature.get_names() {
diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
index a5559f5c52..8332d2f383 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
@@ -5926,7 +5926,7 @@ pub fn discover_captures_in_closure(
             seen.push(var_id);
         }
     }
-    for positional in &block.signature.rest_positional {
+    if let Some(positional) = &block.signature.rest_positional {
         if let Some(var_id) = positional.var_id {
             seen.push(var_id);
         }