diff --git a/src/beowulf/read.clj b/src/beowulf/read.clj
index f0cee09..0551be7 100644
--- a/src/beowulf/read.clj
+++ b/src/beowulf/read.clj
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
       ;; Lisp 1.5 supported octal as well as decimal and scientific notation
       "number := integer | decimal | scientific | octal;
       integer := #'-?[1-9][0-9]*';
-      decimal := #'-?[1-9][0-9]*\\.?[0-9]*' | #'0\\.[0-9]*';
+      decimal := #'-?[1-9][0-9]*\\.?[0-9]*' | #'0.[0-9]*';
       scientific := coefficient e exponent;
       coefficient := decimal;
       exponent := integer;
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@
                      (generate (nth p 2)))
       :exponent (generate (second p))
       :fncall (gen-fn-call p)
-      :mvar (upper-case (second p))
+      :mvar (symbol (upper-case (second p)))
       :octal (let [n (read-string (strip-leading-zeros (second p) "0"))
                    scale (generate (nth p 2))]
                (* n (expt 8 scale)))
diff --git a/test/beowulf/sexpr_test.clj b/test/beowulf/sexpr_test.clj
index b0f48c1..eb1df91 100644
--- a/test/beowulf/sexpr_test.clj
+++ b/test/beowulf/sexpr_test.clj
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 (ns beowulf.sexpr-test
   (:require [clojure.math.numeric-tower :refer [abs]]
             [clojure.test :refer :all]
+            [beowulf.cons-cell :refer :all]
             [beowulf.read :refer [parse simplify generate]]
             [beowulf.print :refer :all]))
 
@@ -74,3 +75,15 @@
              actual (generate (simplify (parse "0.6E2")))]
          (is (< (abs (- actual expected)) 0.0001))))
 
+(deftest dotted-pair-tests
+  (testing "Reading dotted pairs"
+    (let [expected "(A . B)"
+          actual (prin (generate (simplify (parse expected))))]
+      (is (= actual expected)))
+    (let [expected "(A B C . D)"
+          actual (prin (generate (simplify (parse expected))))]
+      (is (= actual expected)))
+    (let [expected "(A B (C . D) E)"
+          actual (prin (generate (simplify (parse expected))))]
+      (is (= actual expected)))
+))