diff --git a/compiler/src/Data/Name.hs b/compiler/src/Data/Name.hs
index 0bb131411..00e9d3941 100644
--- a/compiler/src/Data/Name.hs
+++ b/compiler/src/Data/Name.hs
@@ -223,8 +223,8 @@ fromTypeVariable name@(Utf8.Utf8 ba#) index =
     then name
     else
       let len# = sizeofByteArray# ba#
-          end# = indexWord8Array# ba# (len# -# 1#)
-       in if isTrue# (leWord8# (wordToWord8# 0x30##) end#) && isTrue# (leWord8# end# (wordToWord8# 0x39##))
+          end# = word8ToWord# (indexWord8Array# ba# (len# -# 1#))
+       in if isTrue# (leWord# 0x30## end#) && isTrue# (leWord# end# 0x39##)
             then
               runST
                 ( do
diff --git a/compiler/src/Data/Utf8.hs b/compiler/src/Data/Utf8.hs
index cd6eb84c2..6924a3fc5 100644
--- a/compiler/src/Data/Utf8.hs
+++ b/compiler/src/Data/Utf8.hs
@@ -121,11 +121,11 @@ startsWithChar isGood bytes@(Utf8 ba#) =
   if isEmpty bytes
     then False
     else
-      let !w# = indexWord8Array# ba# 0#
+      let !w# = word8ToWord# (indexWord8Array# ba# 0#)
           !char
-            | isTrue# (ltWord8# w# (wordToWord8# 0xC0##)) = C# (chr# (word8ToInt# w#))
-            | isTrue# (ltWord8# w# (wordToWord8# 0xE0##)) = chr2 ba# 0# w#
-            | isTrue# (ltWord8# w# (wordToWord8# 0xF0##)) = chr3 ba# 0# w#
+            | isTrue# (ltWord# w# 0xC0##) = C# (chr# (word2Int# w#))
+            | isTrue# (ltWord# w# 0xE0##) = chr2 ba# 0# w#
+            | isTrue# (ltWord# w# 0xF0##) = chr3 ba# 0# w#
             | True = chr4 ba# 0# w#
        in isGood char
 
@@ -247,22 +247,22 @@ writeChars !mba !offset chars =
     char : chars
       | n < 0x80 ->
           do
-            writeWord8 mba (offset) (fromIntegral n)
+            writeWord8 mba offset (fromIntegral n)
             writeChars mba (offset + 1) chars
       | n < 0x800 ->
           do
-            writeWord8 mba (offset) (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 6) + 0xC0))
+            writeWord8 mba offset (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 6) + 0xC0))
             writeWord8 mba (offset + 1) (fromIntegral ((n .&. 0x3F) + 0x80))
             writeChars mba (offset + 2) chars
       | n < 0x10000 ->
           do
-            writeWord8 mba (offset) (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 12) + 0xE0))
+            writeWord8 mba offset (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 12) + 0xE0))
             writeWord8 mba (offset + 1) (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 6 .&. 0x3F) + 0x80))
             writeWord8 mba (offset + 2) (fromIntegral ((n .&. 0x3F) + 0x80))
             writeChars mba (offset + 3) chars
       | otherwise ->
           do
-            writeWord8 mba (offset) (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 18) + 0xF0))
+            writeWord8 mba offset (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 18) + 0xF0))
             writeWord8 mba (offset + 1) (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 12 .&. 0x3F) + 0x80))
             writeWord8 mba (offset + 2) (fromIntegral ((shiftR n 6 .&. 0x3F) + 0x80))
             writeWord8 mba (offset + 3) (fromIntegral ((n .&. 0x3F) + 0x80))
@@ -290,27 +290,27 @@ toCharsHelp ba# offset# len# =
   if isTrue# (offset# >=# len#)
     then []
     else
-      let !w# = indexWord8Array# ba# offset#
+      let !w# = word8ToWord# (indexWord8Array# ba# offset#)
           !(# char, width# #)
-            | isTrue# (ltWord8# w# (wordToWord8# 0xC0##)) = (# C# (chr# (word8ToInt# w#)), 1# #)
-            | isTrue# (ltWord8# w# (wordToWord8# 0xE0##)) = (# chr2 ba# offset# w#, 2# #)
-            | isTrue# (ltWord8# w# (wordToWord8# 0xF0##)) = (# chr3 ba# offset# w#, 3# #)
+            | isTrue# (ltWord# w# 0xC0##) = (# C# (chr# (word2Int# w#)), 1# #)
+            | isTrue# (ltWord# w# 0xE0##) = (# chr2 ba# offset# w#, 2# #)
+            | isTrue# (ltWord# w# 0xF0##) = (# chr3 ba# offset# w#, 3# #)
             | True = (# chr4 ba# offset# w#, 4# #)
 
           !newOffset# = offset# +# width#
        in char : toCharsHelp ba# newOffset# len#
 
-chr2 :: ByteArray# -> Int# -> Word8# -> Char
+chr2 :: ByteArray# -> Int# -> Word# -> Char
 chr2 ba# offset# firstWord# =
-  let !i1# = word8ToInt# firstWord#
+  let !i1# = word2Int# firstWord#
       !i2# = word8ToInt# (indexWord8Array# ba# (offset# +# 1#))
       !c1# = uncheckedIShiftL# (i1# -# 0xC0#) 6#
       !c2# = i2# -# 0x80#
    in C# (chr# (c1# +# c2#))
 
-chr3 :: ByteArray# -> Int# -> Word8# -> Char
+chr3 :: ByteArray# -> Int# -> Word# -> Char
 chr3 ba# offset# firstWord# =
-  let !i1# = word8ToInt# firstWord#
+  let !i1# = word2Int# firstWord#
       !i2# = word8ToInt# (indexWord8Array# ba# (offset# +# 1#))
       !i3# = word8ToInt# (indexWord8Array# ba# (offset# +# 2#))
       !c1# = uncheckedIShiftL# (i1# -# 0xE0#) 12#
@@ -318,9 +318,9 @@ chr3 ba# offset# firstWord# =
       !c3# = i3# -# 0x80#
    in C# (chr# (c1# +# c2# +# c3#))
 
-chr4 :: ByteArray# -> Int# -> Word8# -> Char
+chr4 :: ByteArray# -> Int# -> Word# -> Char
 chr4 ba# offset# firstWord# =
-  let !i1# = word8ToInt# firstWord#
+  let !i1# = word2Int# firstWord#
       !i2# = word8ToInt# (indexWord8Array# ba# (offset# +# 1#))
       !i3# = word8ToInt# (indexWord8Array# ba# (offset# +# 2#))
       !i4# = word8ToInt# (indexWord8Array# ba# (offset# +# 3#))
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ chr4 ba# offset# firstWord# =
 
 word8ToInt# :: Word8# -> Int#
 word8ToInt# word8 =
-  int8ToInt# (word8ToInt8# word8)
+  word2Int# (word8ToWord# word8)
 
 -- TO TEXT
 
diff --git a/compiler/src/Parse/Declaration.hs b/compiler/src/Parse/Declaration.hs
index 914c2f8a2..ae00f4153 100644
--- a/compiler/src/Parse/Declaration.hs
+++ b/compiler/src/Parse/Declaration.hs
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ data Decl
   | Alias (Maybe Src.DocComment) (A.Located Src.Alias)
   | Port (Maybe Src.DocComment) Src.Port
   | TopLevelComments (NonEmpty Src.Comment)
+  deriving (Show)
 
 declaration :: Space.Parser E.Decl (Decl, [Src.Comment])
 declaration =
diff --git a/compiler/src/Parse/Variable.hs b/compiler/src/Parse/Variable.hs
index 00e7df6d4..b7de58a18 100644
--- a/compiler/src/Parse/Variable.hs
+++ b/compiler/src/Parse/Variable.hs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import Data.Name qualified as Name
 import Data.Set qualified as Set
 import Data.Word (Word8)
 import Foreign.Ptr (Ptr, plusPtr)
-import GHC.Exts (Char (C#), Int#, chr#, int8ToInt#, uncheckedIShiftL#, word8ToInt8#, (+#), (-#))
+import GHC.Exts (Char (C#), Int#, chr#, uncheckedIShiftL#, word2Int#, word8ToWord#, (+#), (-#))
 import GHC.Word (Word8 (W8#))
 import Parse.Primitives (Col, Parser, Row, unsafeIndex)
 import Parse.Primitives qualified as P
@@ -301,4 +301,4 @@ chr4 pos firstWord =
 
 unpack :: Word8 -> Int#
 unpack (W8# word#) =
-  int8ToInt# (word8ToInt8# word#)
+  word2Int# (word8ToWord# word#)
diff --git a/gren.cabal b/gren.cabal
index 8d96f35f6..fd9680378 100644
--- a/gren.cabal
+++ b/gren.cabal
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ Test-Suite gren-tests
         Parse.SpaceSpec
         Parse.UnderscorePatternSpec
         Parse.MultilineStringSpec
+        Parse.DeclSpec
 
     Build-Depends:
         hspec >= 2.7.10 && < 3
diff --git a/tests/Parse/DeclSpec.hs b/tests/Parse/DeclSpec.hs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b7c392b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Parse/DeclSpec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+module Parse.DeclSpec where
+
+import Data.ByteString.UTF8 qualified as Utf8
+import Helpers.Instances ()
+import Parse.Declaration (declaration)
+import Parse.Primitives qualified as P
+import Test.Hspec (Spec, describe, it, shouldSatisfy)
+
+data ParseError
+  = DeclError P.Row P.Col
+  | OtherError String P.Row P.Col
+  deriving (Show, Eq)
+
+spec :: Spec
+spec = do
+  describe "Top Level Valeus" $ do
+    it "regression test" $
+      parse "test = 1"
+
+    it "Value names can contain non-ascii characters" $ do
+      parse "vålue = 1"
+
+    it "Value names can be only non-ascii characters" $ do
+      parse "æøå = 1"
+
+parse :: String -> IO ()
+parse str =
+  P.fromByteString
+    (P.specialize (\_ row col -> DeclError row col) declaration)
+    (OtherError "fromByteString failed")
+    (Utf8.fromString str)
+    `shouldSatisfy` valid
+
+valid :: Either x y -> Bool
+valid result =
+  case result of
+    Right _ -> True
+    Left _ -> False