diff --git a/src/libcmd/command.cc b/src/libcmd/command.cc
index 34535802f..cc353cbb4 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/command.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/command.cc
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ ref<EvalState> EvalCommand::getEvalState()
                               new DebugTraceStacker(
                                   *evalState,
                                   DebugTrace 
-                                        {.pos = *expr.getPos(),
+                                        {.pos = (error->info().errPos ? *error->info().errPos : *expr.getPos()),
                                          .expr = expr,
                                          .env = env,
                                          .hint = error->info().msg,
diff --git a/src/libcmd/repl.cc b/src/libcmd/repl.cc
index 5de4cdf76..416635f16 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/repl.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/repl.cc
@@ -412,9 +412,11 @@ std::ostream& showDebugTrace(std::ostream &out, const DebugTrace &dt)
         out << ANSI_RED "error: " << ANSI_NORMAL;
     out << dt.hint.str() << "\n";
 
-    if (dt.pos.has_value() && (*dt.pos)) {
-        auto pos = dt.pos.value();
-        out << "\n";
+    // prefer direct pos, but if noPos then try the expr.
+    auto pos = (*dt.pos ? *dt.pos :
+      (dt.expr.getPos() ? *dt.expr.getPos() : noPos));
+
+    if (pos) {
         printAtPos(pos, out);
 
         auto loc = getCodeLines(pos);