diff --git a/src/cc65/compile.c b/src/cc65/compile.c
index 73380f3df..1cb109bbe 100644
--- a/src/cc65/compile.c
+++ b/src/cc65/compile.c
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ static void Parse (void)
             ** or semicolon, it must be followed by a function body.
             */
             if ((Decl.StorageClass & SC_FUNC) != 0) {
-                if (CurTok.Tok != TOK_COMMA && CurTok.Tok != TOK_SEMI) {
+                if (CurTok.Tok == TOK_LCURLY) {
                     /* A definition */
                     Decl.StorageClass |= SC_DEF;
 
@@ -190,6 +190,10 @@ static void Parse (void)
                         FuncDef->Flags = (FuncDef->Flags & ~FD_EMPTY) | FD_VOID_PARAM;
                     }
                 } else {
+                    if (CurTok.Tok != TOK_COMMA && CurTok.Tok != TOK_SEMI) {
+                        Error ("Expected ',' or ';' after top level declarator");
+                    }
+
                     /* Just a declaration */
                     Decl.StorageClass |= SC_DECL;
                 }
@@ -325,7 +329,7 @@ static void Parse (void)
                 if (CurTok.Tok == TOK_SEMI) {
                     /* Prototype only */
                     NextToken ();
-                } else {
+                } else if (CurTok.Tok == TOK_LCURLY) {
                     /* Parse the function body */
                     NewFunc (Sym, FuncDef);
 
diff --git a/src/cc65/declare.c b/src/cc65/declare.c
index 59eb555c4..99161e539 100644
--- a/src/cc65/declare.c
+++ b/src/cc65/declare.c
@@ -1452,7 +1452,7 @@ static void ParseTypeSpec (DeclSpec* D, typespec_t TSFlags, int* SignednessSpeci
                 NextToken ();
             } else {
                 if (CurTok.Tok != TOK_LCURLY) {
-                    Error ("Identifier expected");
+                    Error ("Identifier expected for enum tag name");
                 }
                 AnonName (Ident, "enum");
             }
@@ -1504,8 +1504,8 @@ static void ParseTypeSpec (DeclSpec* D, typespec_t TSFlags, int* SignednessSpeci
             /* FALL THROUGH */
 
         default:
-            if ((TSFlags & TS_MASK_DEFAULT_TYPE) != TS_DEFAULT_TYPE_INT) {
-                Error ("Type expected");
+            if ((TSFlags & TS_MASK_DEFAULT_TYPE) == TS_DEFAULT_TYPE_NONE) {
+                D->Flags |= DS_NO_TYPE;
                 D->Type[0].C = T_INT;
                 D->Type[1].C = T_END;
             } else {
@@ -1553,8 +1553,7 @@ static const Type* ParamTypeCvt (Type* T)
 static void ParseOldStyleParamList (FuncDesc* F)
 /* Parse an old-style (K&R) parameter list */
 {
-    /* Some fix point tokens that are used for error recovery */
-    static const token_t TokenList[] = { TOK_COMMA, TOK_RPAREN, TOK_SEMI };
+    unsigned PrevErrorCount = ErrorCount;
 
     /* Parse params */
     while (CurTok.Tok != TOK_RPAREN) {
@@ -1572,8 +1571,11 @@ static void ParseOldStyleParamList (FuncDesc* F)
             NextToken ();
 
         } else {
+            /* Some fix point tokens that are used for error recovery */
+            static const token_t TokenList[] = { TOK_COMMA, TOK_RPAREN, TOK_SEMI };
+
             /* Not a parameter name */
-            Error ("Identifier expected");
+            Error ("Identifier expected for parameter name");
 
             /* Try some smart error recovery */
             SkipTokens (TokenList, sizeof(TokenList) / sizeof(TokenList[0]));
@@ -1608,6 +1610,12 @@ static void ParseOldStyleParamList (FuncDesc* F)
             Error ("Illegal storage class");
         }
 
+        /* Type must be specified */
+        if ((Spec.Flags & DS_NO_TYPE) != 0) {
+            Error ("Expected declaration specifiers");
+            break;
+        }
+
         /* Parse a comma separated variable list */
         while (1) {
 
@@ -1655,6 +1663,14 @@ static void ParseOldStyleParamList (FuncDesc* F)
         /* Variable list must be semicolon terminated */
         ConsumeSemi ();
     }
+
+    if (PrevErrorCount != ErrorCount) {
+        /* Some fix point tokens that are used for error recovery */
+        static const token_t TokenList[] = { TOK_COMMA, TOK_SEMI };
+
+        /* Try some smart error recovery */
+        SkipTokens (TokenList, sizeof(TokenList) / sizeof(TokenList[0]));
+    }
 }
 
 
@@ -1689,6 +1705,11 @@ static void ParseAnsiParamList (FuncDesc* F)
             Spec.StorageClass = SC_AUTO | SC_PARAM | SC_DEF;
         }
 
+        /* Type must be specified */
+        if ((Spec.Flags & DS_NO_TYPE) != 0) {
+            Error ("Type specifier missing");
+        }
+
         /* Warn about new local type declaration */
         if ((Spec.Flags & DS_NEW_TYPE_DECL) != 0) {
             Warning ("'%s' will be invisible out of this function",
@@ -1870,12 +1891,21 @@ static void DirectDecl (const DeclSpec* Spec, Declarator* D, declmode_t Mode)
         } else {
             if (Mode == DM_NEED_IDENT) {
                 /* Some fix point tokens that are used for error recovery */
-                static const token_t TokenList[] = { TOK_COMMA, TOK_SEMI };
+                static const token_t TokenList[] = { TOK_COMMA, TOK_SEMI, TOK_LCURLY, TOK_RCURLY };
 
                 Error ("Identifier expected");
 
                 /* Try some smart error recovery */
                 SkipTokens (TokenList, sizeof(TokenList) / sizeof(TokenList[0]));
+
+                /* Skip curly braces */
+                if (CurTok.Tok == TOK_LCURLY) {
+                    static const token_t CurlyToken[] = { TOK_RCURLY };
+                    SkipTokens (CurlyToken, sizeof(CurlyToken) / sizeof(CurlyToken[0]));
+                    NextToken ();
+                } else if (CurTok.Tok == TOK_RCURLY) {
+                    NextToken ();
+                }
             }
             D->Ident[0] = '\0';
         }
diff --git a/src/cc65/declare.h b/src/cc65/declare.h
index ee9e1fc63..0facccba3 100644
--- a/src/cc65/declare.h
+++ b/src/cc65/declare.h
@@ -71,8 +71,9 @@ enum typespec_t {
 
 /* Masks for the Flags field in DeclSpec */
 #define DS_DEF_STORAGE          0x0001U /* Default storage class used   */
-#define DS_DEF_TYPE             0x0002U /* Default type used            */
-#define DS_EXTRA_TYPE           0x0004U /* Extra type declared          */
+#define DS_NO_TYPE              0x0002U /* No type explicitly specified */
+#define DS_DEF_TYPE             0x0006U /* Default type used            */
+#define DS_EXTRA_TYPE           0x0008U /* Extra type declared          */
 #define DS_NEW_TYPE_DECL        0x0010U /* New type declared            */
 #define DS_NEW_TYPE_DEF         0x0020U /* New type defined             */
 #define DS_NEW_TYPE             (DS_NEW_TYPE_DECL | DS_NEW_TYPE_DEF)
diff --git a/src/cc65/expr.c b/src/cc65/expr.c
index fa6f21fb2..47a05eca0 100644
--- a/src/cc65/expr.c
+++ b/src/cc65/expr.c
@@ -1439,7 +1439,7 @@ static void StructRef (ExprDesc* Expr)
     /* Skip the token and check for an identifier */
     NextToken ();
     if (CurTok.Tok != TOK_IDENT) {
-        Error ("Identifier expected");
+        Error ("Identifier expected for %s member", GetBasicTypeName (Expr->Type));
         /* Make the expression an integer at address zero */
         ED_MakeConstAbs (Expr, 0, type_int);
         return;
diff --git a/test/ref/bug1889-missing-identifier.cref b/test/ref/bug1889-missing-identifier.cref
index cd3f76849..acaf53f94 100644
--- a/test/ref/bug1889-missing-identifier.cref
+++ b/test/ref/bug1889-missing-identifier.cref
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 bug1889-missing-identifier.c:3: Error: Identifier expected
+bug1889-missing-identifier.c:3: Error: ';' expected
+bug1889-missing-identifier.c:3: Warning: Implicit 'int' is an obsolete feature
 bug1889-missing-identifier.c:4: Error: Identifier expected
 bug1889-missing-identifier.c:4: Warning: Implicit 'int' is an obsolete feature