Comment 1:

I think you have an old godoc lying around.
I'm not sure what you mean by chokes, but I added this
as a new file go/src/pkg/utf8/x.go:
package utf8
var T = &S{
    x: 5,
    y: 6,
}
and then when I run godoc utf8 T:
PACKAGE
package utf8
import "utf8"
VARIABLES
var T = &S{
    x: 5,
    y: 6,
}

Owner changed to r...@golang.org.

Status changed to WaitingForReply.

Comment 2:

A slightly trickier syntax reproduces the bug:
type S struct {
        x, y int
        c <-chan int
}
func main() {
        s := &S{
                x: 5,
                y: 7,
                c: (<-chan int)(make(chan int)),
        }
}

Comment 3:

Reproduced.
; cat x.go
package main
type S struct {
       x, y int
       c <-chan int
}
func main() {
       s := &S{
               x: 5,
               y: 7,
               c: (<-chan int)(make(chan int)),
       }
}
; gofmt x.go
x.go:12:22: expected expression
;
-> gri

Labels changed: added packagebug.

Owner changed to g...@golang.org.

Status changed to Accepted.

Comment 4:

Status changed to Started.

Comment 5:

This issue was closed by revision 6d8829e.

Status changed to Fixed.

Merged into issue #-.