diff --git a/lang/parser.y b/lang/parser.y
index ca13ca0c..5a3e32a7 100644
--- a/lang/parser.y
+++ b/lang/parser.y
@@ -859,6 +859,7 @@ arg:
 	}
 ;
 bind:
+	// `$s = "hey"`
 	VAR_IDENTIFIER EQUALS expr
 	{
 		posLast(yylex, yyDollar) // our pos
@@ -867,6 +868,8 @@ bind:
 			Value: $3.expr,
 		}
 	}
+	// `$x bool = true`
+	// `$x int = if true { 42 } else { 13 }`
 |	VAR_IDENTIFIER type EQUALS expr
 	{
 		posLast(yylex, yyDollar) // our pos
diff --git a/lang/structs.go b/lang/structs.go
index 3ba22657..3fccc088 100644
--- a/lang/structs.go
+++ b/lang/structs.go
@@ -5255,6 +5255,15 @@ func (obj *ExprVar) Unify() ([]interfaces.Invariant, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("var `%s` does not exist in this scope", obj.Name)
 	}
 
+	// if this was set explicitly by the parser
+	if obj.typ != nil {
+		invar := &unification.EqualsInvariant{
+			Expr: obj,
+			Type: obj.typ,
+		}
+		invariants = append(invariants, invar)
+	}
+
 	// don't recurse because we already got this through the bind statement
 	//invars, err := expr.Unify()
 	//if err != nil {
@@ -5531,6 +5540,15 @@ func (obj *ExprIf) Type() (*types.Type, error) {
 func (obj *ExprIf) Unify() ([]interfaces.Invariant, error) {
 	var invariants []interfaces.Invariant
 
+	// if this was set explicitly by the parser
+	if obj.typ != nil {
+		invar := &unification.EqualsInvariant{
+			Expr: obj,
+			Type: obj.typ,
+		}
+		invariants = append(invariants, invar)
+	}
+
 	// conditional expression might have some children invariants to share
 	condition, err := obj.Condition.Unify()
 	if err != nil {