diff --git a/src/Raku/ast/pair.rakumod b/src/Raku/ast/pair.rakumod
index 861ff9b2abc..03281585cc2 100644
--- a/src/Raku/ast/pair.rakumod
+++ b/src/Raku/ast/pair.rakumod
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ class RakuAST::ColonPair::True is RakuAST::QuotePair {
         $obj
     }
 
+    method canonicalize() {
+        nqp::getattr(self, RakuAST::ColonPair, '$!key')
+    }
+
     method PRODUCE-IMPLICIT-LOOKUPS() {
         self.IMPL-WRAP-LIST([
             RakuAST::Type::Setting.new(RakuAST::Name.from-identifier('Pair'))
@@ -150,6 +154,10 @@ class RakuAST::ColonPair::False is RakuAST::QuotePair {
         $obj
     }
 
+    method canonicalize() {
+        "!" ~ nqp::getattr(self, RakuAST::ColonPair, '$!key')
+    }
+
     method PRODUCE-IMPLICIT-LOOKUPS() {
         self.IMPL-WRAP-LIST([
             RakuAST::Type::Setting.new(RakuAST::Name.from-identifier('Pair'))