diff --git a/codeGenCpu6502/src/prog8/codegen/cpu6502/ProgramAndVarsGen.kt b/codeGenCpu6502/src/prog8/codegen/cpu6502/ProgramAndVarsGen.kt
index 943b1e236..dd574607b 100644
--- a/codeGenCpu6502/src/prog8/codegen/cpu6502/ProgramAndVarsGen.kt
+++ b/codeGenCpu6502/src/prog8/codegen/cpu6502/ProgramAndVarsGen.kt
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ internal class ProgramAndVarsGen(
     private val zeropage: Zeropage
 ) {
     private val compTarget = options.compTarget
-    private val callGraph = CallGraph(program)
+    private val callGraph = CallGraph(program, true)
     private val blockVariableInitializers = program.allBlocks.associateWith { it.statements.filterIsInstance<Assignment>() }
 
     internal fun generate() {
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt
index 41430d283..626e46c45 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/Compiler.kt
@@ -3,12 +3,15 @@ package prog8.compiler
 import com.github.michaelbull.result.onFailure
 import prog8.ast.AstToSourceTextConverter
 import prog8.ast.IBuiltinFunctions
+import prog8.ast.IStatementContainer
 import prog8.ast.Program
 import prog8.ast.base.AstException
 import prog8.ast.base.Position
 import prog8.ast.expressions.Expression
 import prog8.ast.expressions.NumericLiteralValue
 import prog8.ast.statements.Directive
+import prog8.ast.statements.VarDecl
+import prog8.ast.walk.IAstVisitor
 import prog8.codegen.target.C128Target
 import prog8.codegen.target.C64Target
 import prog8.codegen.target.Cx16Target
@@ -348,6 +351,12 @@ private fun writeAssembly(program: Program,
     program.processAstBeforeAsmGeneration(compilerOptions, variables, errors)
     errors.report()
 
+    // TODO make removing all VarDecls work, but this needs inferType to be able to get its information from somewhere else as the VarDecl nodes in the Ast,
+    //      or don't use inferType at all anymore and "bake the type information" into the Ast somehow.
+    //      Note: we don't actually *need* to remove the VarDecl nodes, but it is nice as a temporary measure
+    //      to help clean up the code that still depends on them.
+    // removeAllVardeclsFromAst(program)
+
 //    println("*********** AST RIGHT BEFORE ASM GENERATION *************")
 //    printProgram(program)
 
@@ -364,6 +373,26 @@ private fun writeAssembly(program: Program,
     }
 }
 
+private fun removeAllVardeclsFromAst(program: Program) {
+    // remove all VarDecl nodes from the AST.
+    // code generation doesn't require them anymore, it operates only on the 'variables' collection.
+
+    class SearchAndRemove: IAstVisitor {
+        private val allVars = mutableListOf<VarDecl>()
+        init {
+            visit(program)
+            for (it in allVars) {
+                require((it.parent as IStatementContainer).statements.remove(it))
+            }
+        }
+        override fun visit(decl: VarDecl) {
+            allVars.add(decl)
+        }
+    }
+
+    SearchAndRemove()
+}
+
 fun printProgram(program: Program) {
     println()
     val printer = AstToSourceTextConverter(::print, program)
diff --git a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/astprocessing/BeforeAsmAstChanger.kt b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/astprocessing/BeforeAsmAstChanger.kt
index bee701cda..112776668 100644
--- a/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/astprocessing/BeforeAsmAstChanger.kt
+++ b/compiler/src/prog8/compiler/astprocessing/BeforeAsmAstChanger.kt
@@ -55,9 +55,6 @@ internal class BeforeAsmAstChanger(val program: Program,
                 throw FatalAstException("vardecls for variables, with initial numerical value, should have been rewritten as plain vardecl + assignment $decl")
         }
 
-        // TODO get rid of the vardecl inside the ast - codegen should depend on the IVariableAllocation object
-        //      but if we do this now, all variable name lookups break because these are still done on the Ast directly rather than on a separate symbol table
-        // return listOf(IAstModification.Remove(decl, parent as IStatementContainer))
         return noModifications
     }
 
diff --git a/compilerInterfaces/src/prog8/compilerinterface/CallGraph.kt b/compilerInterfaces/src/prog8/compilerinterface/CallGraph.kt
index 9cc31be28..a4edf105c 100644
--- a/compilerInterfaces/src/prog8/compilerinterface/CallGraph.kt
+++ b/compilerInterfaces/src/prog8/compilerinterface/CallGraph.kt
@@ -3,13 +3,14 @@ package prog8.compilerinterface
 import prog8.ast.Module
 import prog8.ast.Node
 import prog8.ast.Program
+import prog8.ast.base.FatalAstException
 import prog8.ast.base.VarDeclType
 import prog8.ast.expressions.*
 import prog8.ast.statements.*
 import prog8.ast.walk.IAstVisitor
 
 
-class CallGraph(private val program: Program) : IAstVisitor {
+class CallGraph(private val program: Program, private val allowMissingIdentifierTargetVarDecls: Boolean=false) : IAstVisitor {
 
     val imports = mutableMapOf<Module, Set<Module>>().withDefault { setOf() }
     val importedBy = mutableMapOf<Module, Set<Module>>().withDefault { setOf() }
@@ -109,7 +110,16 @@ class CallGraph(private val program: Program) : IAstVisitor {
     }
 
     override fun visit(identifier: IdentifierReference) {
-        allIdentifiersAndTargets[identifier] = identifier.targetStatement(program)!!
+        val target = identifier.targetStatement(program)
+        if(allowMissingIdentifierTargetVarDecls) {
+            if(target!=null)
+                allIdentifiersAndTargets[identifier] = target
+        } else {
+            if(target==null)
+                throw FatalAstException("missing target stmt for $identifier")
+            else
+                allIdentifiersAndTargets[identifier] = target
+        }
     }
 
     override fun visit(inlineAssembly: InlineAssembly) {