diff --git a/lib/init.scm b/lib/init.scm
index b7f40fe0..d5191caf 100644
--- a/lib/init.scm
+++ b/lib/init.scm
@@ -219,13 +219,17 @@
         (if (every (lambda (x)
                      (if (pair? x) (if (pair? (cdr x)) (null? (cddr x)) #f) #f))
                    bindings)
-            (if (identifier? (cadr expr))
-                `(,(rename 'letrec) ((,(cadr expr)
-                                      (,(rename 'lambda) ,(map car bindings)
-                                       ,@(cdddr expr))))
-                  ,(cons (cadr expr) (map cadr bindings)))
-                `((,(rename 'lambda) ,(map car bindings) ,@(cddr expr))
-                  ,@(map cadr bindings)))
+            ((lambda (vars vals)
+               (if (identifier? (cadr expr))
+                   `((,(rename 'lambda) ,vars
+                      (,(rename 'letrec) ((,(cadr expr)
+                                           (,(rename 'lambda) ,vars
+                                            ,@(cdddr expr))))
+                       (,(cadr expr) ,@vars)))
+                     ,@vals)
+                   `((,(rename 'lambda) ,vars ,@(cddr expr)) ,@vals)))
+             (map car bindings)
+             (map cadr bindings))
             (error "bad let syntax" expr)))
       (if (identifier? (cadr expr)) (caddr expr) (cadr expr))))))