diff --git a/jolt-core/jolt/analyzer.clj b/jolt-core/jolt/analyzer.clj
index ba187a3..0f11042 100644
--- a/jolt-core/jolt/analyzer.clj
+++ b/jolt-core/jolt/analyzer.clj
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     (swap! gensym-counter inc)
     (str "_r$" prefix n)))
 
-(defn- empty-env [] {:locals #{} :recur nil})
+(defn- empty-env [] {:locals #{}})
 (defn- local? [env nm] (contains? (:locals env) nm))
 (defn- add-locals [env names] (update env :locals #(reduce conj % names)))
 (defn- with-recur [env name] (assoc env :recur name))
@@ -82,9 +82,12 @@
         ;; is a self-call carrying the rest seq directly — Clojure semantics.
         rname (gen-name "arity")
         names (cond-> (vec fixed) rst (conj rst) fn-name (conj fn-name))
-        env* (-> (add-locals env names) (with-recur rname))]
-    {:params fixed :rest rst :recur-name rname
-     :body (analyze-seq ctx body env*)}))
+        env* (-> (add-locals env names) (with-recur rname))
+        arity {:params fixed :recur-name rname
+               :body (analyze-seq ctx body env*)}]
+    ;; :rest only when variadic — an absent :rest reads back nil, same as before,
+    ;; but keeps a fixed arity a nil-free struct rather than a phm.
+    (if rst (assoc arity :rest rst) arity)))
 
 (defn- analyze-fn [ctx items env]
   (let [named (form-sym? (nth items 1))
diff --git a/jolt-core/jolt/ir.clj b/jolt-core/jolt/ir.clj
index 0624810..af34cdb 100644
--- a/jolt-core/jolt/ir.clj
+++ b/jolt-core/jolt/ir.clj
@@ -30,15 +30,22 @@
 (defn invoke [f args] {:op :invoke :fn f :args args})
 
 ;; meta is the var metadata (e.g. {:dynamic true} / {:redef true}) the back end
-;; applies to the cell; nil when the def name carried none.
+;; applies to the cell; absent when the def name carried none.
 (defn def-node
-  ([ns name init] {:op :def :ns ns :name name :init init :meta nil})
-  ([ns name init meta] {:op :def :ns ns :name name :init init :meta meta}))
+  ([ns name init] {:op :def :ns ns :name name :init init})
+  ([ns name init meta]
+   (if meta
+     {:op :def :ns ns :name name :init init :meta meta}
+     {:op :def :ns ns :name name :init init})))
 
 (defn let-node [bindings body] {:op :let :bindings bindings :body body})
 
-;; A fn is one or more arities. Each arity: {:params [..] :rest name|nil :body ir}.
-(defn fn-node [name arities] {:op :fn :name name :arities arities})
+;; A fn is one or more arities. Each arity: {:params [..] :body ir}, plus :rest
+;; name when variadic. :name is absent for an anonymous fn.
+(defn fn-node [name arities]
+  (if name
+    {:op :fn :name name :arities arities}
+    {:op :fn :arities arities}))
 
 (defn vector-node [items] {:op :vector :items items})
 (defn map-node [pairs] {:op :map :pairs pairs})