diff --git a/src/cc65/codeseg.c b/src/cc65/codeseg.c
index 0626f3d18..e621147ab 100644
--- a/src/cc65/codeseg.c
+++ b/src/cc65/codeseg.c
@@ -282,6 +282,8 @@ static CodeEntry* ParseInsn (CodeSeg* S, LineInfo* LI, const char* L)
     char                Reg;
     CodeEntry*          E;
     CodeLabel*          Label;
+    const char*         ArgBase = Arg;
+    int                 IsLabel = 0;
 
     /* Read the first token and skip white space after it */
     L = SkipSpace (ReadToken (L, " \t:", Mnemo, sizeof (Mnemo)));
@@ -448,32 +450,44 @@ static CodeEntry* ParseInsn (CodeSeg* S, LineInfo* LI, const char* L)
 
     }
 
-    /* If the instruction is a branch, check for the label and generate it
-    ** if it does not exist. This may lead to unused labels (if the label
+    /* We do now have the addressing mode in AM. Allocate a new CodeEntry
+    ** structure and half-initialize it. We'll set the argument and the label
+    ** later.
+    */
+    E = NewCodeEntry (OPC->OPC, AM, Arg, 0, LI);
+
+    /* If the instruction is a branch or accessing memory data, check if for
+    ** the argument could refer to a label. If it does but the label does not
+    ** exist yet, generate it. This may lead to unused labels (if the label
     ** is actually an external one) which are removed by the CS_MergeLabels
     ** function later.
     */
-    Label = 0;
-    if (AM == AM65_BRA) {
+    if ((E->Info & OF_CALL) == 0 &&
+        (E->ArgInfo & AIF_HAS_NAME) != 0) {
+        ArgBase = E->ArgBase;
+        IsLabel = (E->ArgInfo & AIF_LOCAL) != 0;
+    }
+
+    if (AM == AM65_BRA || IsLabel) {
 
         /* Generate the hash over the label, then search for the label */
-        unsigned Hash = HashStr (Arg) % CS_LABEL_HASH_SIZE;
-        Label = CS_FindLabel (S, Arg, Hash);
+        unsigned Hash = HashStr (ArgBase) % CS_LABEL_HASH_SIZE;
+        Label = CS_FindLabel (S, ArgBase, Hash);
 
         /* If we don't have the label, it's a forward ref - create it unless
         ** it's an external function.
         */
-        if (Label == 0 && (OPC->OPC != OP65_JMP || IsLocalLabelName (Arg)) ) {
+        if (Label == 0 && (OPC->OPC != OP65_JMP || IsLabel)) {
             /* Generate a new label */
-            Label = CS_NewCodeLabel (S, Arg, Hash);
+            Label = CS_NewCodeLabel (S, ArgBase, Hash);
+        }
+
+        if (Label != 0) {
+            /* Assign the jump */
+            CL_AddRef (Label, E);
         }
     }
 
-    /* We do now have the addressing mode in AM. Allocate a new CodeEntry
-    ** structure and initialize it.
-    */
-    E = NewCodeEntry (OPC->OPC, AM, Arg, Label, LI);
-
     /* Return the new code entry */
     return E;
 }
@@ -1084,8 +1098,13 @@ void CS_MoveLabelRef (CodeSeg* S, struct CodeEntry* E, CodeLabel* L)
     /* Be sure that code entry references a label */
     PRECONDITION (OldLabel != 0);
 
-    /* Remove the reference to our label */
-    CS_RemoveLabelRef (S, E);
+    /* Delete the entry from the label */
+    CollDeleteItem (&OldLabel->JumpFrom, E);
+
+    /* If there are no more references, delete the label */
+    if (CollCount (&OldLabel->JumpFrom) == 0) {
+        CS_DelLabel (S, OldLabel);
+    }
 
     /* Use the new label */
     CL_AddRef (L, E);