diff --git a/runtime.c b/runtime.c
index 4b81f15b..170d77e9 100644
--- a/runtime.c
+++ b/runtime.c
@@ -6213,9 +6213,14 @@ void Cyc_io_read_token(void *data, object cont, object port)
       _read_next_char(data, cont, p); // Do another buffer read if needed
       if (p->mem_buf[p->buf_idx] == '@') {
         object unquote_splicing = find_or_add_symbol(",@");
+        make_empty_vector(vec);
+        vec.num_elements = 2;
+        vec.elements = (object *) alloca(sizeof(object) * vec.num_elements);
+        vec.elements[0] = unquote_splicing;
+        vec.elements[1] = boolean_f;
         p->buf_idx++;
         p->col_num++;
-        return_thread_runnable(data, unquote_splicing);
+        return_thread_runnable(data, &vec);
       } else {
         // Again, special encoding for syntax
         make_c_opaque(opq, obj_char2obj(c));
@@ -6284,7 +6289,12 @@ void Cyc_io_read_token(void *data, object cont, object port)
         continue;
       } else if (c == ';') { // Datum comment
         object sym = find_or_add_symbol("#;");
-        return_thread_runnable(data, sym);
+        make_empty_vector(vec);
+        vec.num_elements = 2;
+        vec.elements = (object *) alloca(sizeof(object) * vec.num_elements);
+        vec.elements[0] = sym;
+        vec.elements[1] = boolean_f;
+        return_thread_runnable(data, &vec);
       } else {
         char buf[31];
         snprintf(buf, 30, "Unhandled input sequence %c", c);
diff --git a/scheme/read.sld b/scheme/read.sld
index 755fd936..d312e14e 100644
--- a/scheme/read.sld
+++ b/scheme/read.sld
@@ -164,6 +164,16 @@
          (if (vector-ref token 2)
              (exact (string->number (vector-ref token 0) (vector-ref token 1)))
              (inexact (string->number (vector-ref token 0) (vector-ref token 1)))))
+        ((= (vector-length token) 2) ;; Special case: special symbols
+         (let ((t (vector-ref token 0)))
+           (cond
+             ((eq? t *sym-unquote-splicing*)
+              (list 'unquote-splicing (parse fp)))
+             ((eq? t *sym-datum-comment*)
+              (parse fp) ;; Ignore next datum
+              (parse fp))
+             (else
+              (error "Unexpected token" t)))))
         ((= (vector-length token) 1) ;; Special case: error
          (error (vector-ref token 0)))
         (else
@@ -186,12 +196,6 @@
             (apply bytevector (reverse lis)))
            (else
             (loop (cons t lis) (parse fp))))))
-      ((eq? token *sym-unquote-splicing*)
-       (list 'unquote-splicing (parse fp)))
-      ((eq? token *sym-datum-comment*)
-       (parse fp) ;; Ignore next datum
-       (parse fp))
-      ;; Other special cases?
       (else
         token))))
   ))