diff --git a/include/cons_expr/cons_expr.hpp b/include/cons_expr/cons_expr.hpp
index 810a5ab..b7c0fa2 100644
--- a/include/cons_expr/cons_expr.hpp
+++ b/include/cons_expr/cons_expr.hpp
@@ -648,21 +648,18 @@ struct cons_expr
       }
 
       // Closures contain all of their own scope
-      LexicalScope new_scope;
+      LexicalScope param_scope = scope;
+
+      // overwrite scope with the things we know we need params to be named
 
       // set up params
       // technically I'm evaluating the params lazily while invoking the lambda, not before. Does it matter?
       for (const auto [name, parameter] : std::views::zip(engine.values[parameter_names], engine.values[params])) {
-        new_scope.emplace_back(engine.get_if<identifier_type>(&name)->value, engine.eval(scope, parameter));
-      }
-
-      Scratch fixed_statements{ engine.object_scratch };
-      for (const auto &statement : engine.values[statements]) {
-        fixed_statements.push_back(engine.fix_identifiers(statement, {}, new_scope));
+        param_scope.emplace_back(engine.get_if<identifier_type>(&name)->value, engine.eval(scope, parameter));
       }
 
       // TODO set up tail call elimination for last element of the sequence being evaluated?
-      return engine.sequence(new_scope, engine.values.insert_or_find(fixed_statements));
+      return engine.sequence(param_scope, statements);
     }
   };
 
@@ -908,6 +905,7 @@ struct cons_expr
     auto locals = engine.get_lambda_parameter_names(engine.values[params[0]]);
 
     // replace all references to captured values with constant copies
+    // this is how we create the closure object
     Scratch fixed_statements{ engine.object_scratch };
 
     for (const auto &statement : engine.values[params.sublist(1)]) {
diff --git a/src/ccons_expr/main.cpp b/src/ccons_expr/main.cpp
index 170b8b2..8bd30d4 100644
--- a/src/ccons_expr/main.cpp
+++ b/src/ccons_expr/main.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ int main([[maybe_unused]] int argc, [[maybe_unused]] const char *argv[])
 
     try {
       content_2 += to_string(evaluator,
-        false,
+        true,
         evaluator.sequence(
           evaluator.global_scope, std::get<lefticus::cons_expr<>::list_type>(evaluator.parse(content_1).first.value)));
     } catch (const std::exception &e) {
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 16c1005..289e629 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ catch_discover_tests(
   .xml)
 
 # Add a file containing a set of constexpr tests
-add_executable(constexpr_tests constexpr_tests.cpp list_tests.cpp parser_tests.cpp)
+add_executable(constexpr_tests constexpr_tests.cpp list_tests.cpp parser_tests.cpp recursion_tests.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(
   constexpr_tests
   PRIVATE cons_expr::cons_expr
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ catch_discover_tests(
 
 # Disable the constexpr portion of the test, and build again this allows us to have an executable that we can debug when
 # things go wrong with the constexpr testing
-add_executable(relaxed_constexpr_tests constexpr_tests.cpp list_tests.cpp parser_tests.cpp)
+add_executable(relaxed_constexpr_tests constexpr_tests.cpp list_tests.cpp parser_tests.cpp recursion_tests.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(
   relaxed_constexpr_tests
   PRIVATE cons_expr::cons_expr
@@ -115,4 +115,4 @@ catch_discover_tests(
   OUTPUT_SUFFIX
   .xml)
 
-target_include_directories(relaxed_constexpr_tests PRIVATE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/configured_files/include")
\ No newline at end of file
+target_include_directories(relaxed_constexpr_tests PRIVATE "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/configured_files/include")
diff --git a/test/recursion_tests.cpp b/test/recursion_tests.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6fe0c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/recursion_tests.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
+#include <catch2/matchers/catch_matchers_floating_point.hpp>
+
+#include <cons_expr/cons_expr.hpp>
+#include <cons_expr/utility.hpp>
+#include <internal_use_only/config.hpp>
+
+using IntType = int;
+using FloatType = double;
+
+template<typename Result> constexpr Result evaluate_to(std::string_view input)
+{
+  lefticus::cons_expr<std::uint16_t, char, IntType, FloatType> evaluator;
+  return evaluator.evaluate_to<Result>(input).value();
+}
+
+template<typename Result> constexpr bool evaluate_expected(std::string_view input, auto result)
+{
+  lefticus::cons_expr<std::uint16_t, char, IntType, FloatType> evaluator;
+  return evaluator.evaluate_to<Result>(input).value() == result;
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("Y-Combinator", "[recursion]")
+{
+  STATIC_CHECK(evaluate_to<int>(
+                 R"(
+;; Y combinator definition
+(define Y
+  (lambda (f)
+    ((lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))
+     (lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y)))))))
+
+;; Factorial using Y combinator
+(define factorial
+  (Y (lambda (fact)
+       (lambda (n)
+         (if (== n 0)
+             1
+             (* n (fact (- n 1))))))))
+
+(factorial 5)
+)") == 120);
+}
+
+
+TEST_CASE("expressive 'define' 1 level", "[recursion]")
+{
+  STATIC_CHECK(evaluate_to<int>(
+                 R"(
+(define factorial
+  (lambda (n)
+    (if (== n 0)
+        1
+        (* n (factorial (- n 1))))))
+
+(factorial 1)
+)") == 1);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("expressive 'define' 5 levels", "[recursion]")
+{
+  STATIC_CHECK(evaluate_to<int>(
+                 R"(
+(define factorial
+  (lambda (n)
+    (if (== n 0)
+        1
+        (* n (factorial (- n 1))))))
+
+(factorial 5)
+)") == 120);
+}