diff --git a/compiler/lex.c b/compiler/lex.c
index 30fc41a..850ba04 100644
--- a/compiler/lex.c
+++ b/compiler/lex.c
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ intern_identifier(LexState *ls, u8 *ident)
 static LexToken
 identifier(LexState *ls)
 {
+	LexToken token = { .loc = ls->cur_loc };
 	/* this gets copied to the hash table arena, no problem */
 	u8 ident_buf[MAX_IDENT_SIZE];
 	usize i = 0;
@@ -246,16 +247,16 @@ identifier(LexState *ls)
 	if (chr.ok)
 		backup(ls, 1);
 
-	return (LexToken) {
-		.id = T_IDENT,
-		.ident = {intern_identifier(ls, ident_buf), i},
-		.len = i,
-	};
+	token.id = T_IDENT;
+	token.ident = (Str){intern_identifier(ls, ident_buf), i};
+	token.len = i;
+	return token;
 }
 
 static LexToken
 string_literal(LexState *ls)
 {
+	LexToken token = { .loc = ls->cur_loc };
 	isize str_buf_len = STRING_LITERAL_BASE_SIZE;
 	u8 *str_buf = malloc(str_buf_len);
 	isize i = 0;
@@ -284,11 +285,10 @@ string_literal(LexState *ls)
 		str_buf = nil;
 	}
 
-	return (LexToken) {
-		.id = T_STRING,
-		.str = {str_buf, i},
-		.len = i,
-	};
+	token.id = T_STRING;
+	token.str = (Str){str_buf, i};
+	token.len = i;
+	return token;
 err:
 	return make_error();
 }
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ err:
 static LexToken
 number_literal(LexState *ls)
 {
-	LexToken t = { .id = T_NUMBER };
+	LexToken token = { .id = T_NUMBER, .loc = ls->cur_loc };
 	u64 number = 0;
 	u8 base = 10;
 
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ number_literal(LexState *ls)
 	if (chr.val == '0') {
 		chr = read_chr(ls); /* skip 0 prefix */
 		if (!chr.ok) { /* EOF edge case */
-			return t; /* 0 */
+			return token; /* 0 */
 		}
 		switch (chr.val) {
 		case 'b':
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ number_literal(LexState *ls)
 			}
 			//lex_error(ls, "unknown numeric prefix '0%c'", chr.val);
 			/* start of another token */
-			return t; /* 0 */
+			return token; /* 0 */
 		}
 		chr = read_chr(ls);
 		if (!chr.ok) {
@@ -367,8 +367,8 @@ number_literal(LexState *ls)
 	if (chr.ok)
 		backup(ls, 1);
 
-	t.inumber = number;
-	return t;
+	token.inumber = number;
+	return token;
 overflow:
 	lex_error(ls, "integer literal is too big (2^64 max)");
 	return make_error();
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ static LexToken
 keyword(LexToken *t)
 {
 #define kwcmp(ident, kw, tid) \
-	{if (Str_equal(ident, kw)) return (LexToken){ .id = tid, .len = kw.len };}
+	{if (Str_equal(ident, kw)) return (LexToken){ .id = tid, .len = kw.len, .loc = t->loc };}
 
 	Str ident = t->ident;
 	--ident.len;
diff --git a/compiler/lex.h b/compiler/lex.h
index 6d46a5f..6589d46 100644
--- a/compiler/lex.h
+++ b/compiler/lex.h
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ typedef struct {
 		double floatn;
 	};
 	isize len; /* Size in bytes of this token */
+	Location loc; /* Start position of this token in the file or stream */
 } LexToken;
 
 typedef HashMapStr(i8) IdentsBucket;