diff --git a/apps/zasm/parse.asm b/apps/zasm/parse.asm
index fe6e4a7..41769c2 100644
--- a/apps/zasm/parse.asm
+++ b/apps/zasm/parse.asm
@@ -169,24 +169,22 @@ parseNumberOrSymbol:
 	call	parseLiteral
 	ret	z
 	; Not a number. Try PC
-	push	de
+	push	de		; --> lvl 1
 	ld	de, .sDollar
 	call	strcmp
-	pop	de
+	pop	de		; <-- lvl 1
 	jr	z, .returnPC
 	; Not PC either, try symbol
-	call	symSelect
-	call	symFind
+	push	de		; --> lvl 1
+	call	symFindVal	; --> DE
 	jr	nz, .notfound
-	; Found! let's fetch value
-	push	de
-	call	symGetVal
 	; value in DE. We need it in IX
 	push	de \ pop ix
-	pop	de
+	pop	de		; <-- lvl 1
 	cp	a		; ensure Z
 	ret
 .notfound:
+	pop	de		; <-- lvl 1
 	; If not found, check if we're in first pass. If we are, it doesn't
 	; matter that we didn't find our symbol. Return success anyhow.
 	; Otherwise return error. Z is already unset, so in fact, this is the
diff --git a/apps/zasm/symbol.asm b/apps/zasm/symbol.asm
index 69e483a..3c57dc4 100644
--- a/apps/zasm/symbol.asm
+++ b/apps/zasm/symbol.asm
@@ -238,12 +238,6 @@ symRegister:
 	ld	a, ERR_DUPSYM
 	jp	unsetZ		; return
 
-; Select global or local registry according to label name in (HL)
-symSelect:
-	call	symIsLabelLocal
-	jp	z, symSelectLocalRegistry
-	jp	symSelectGlobalRegistry
-
 ; Find name (HL) in (SYM_CTX_NAMES) and make (SYM_CTX_PTR) point to the
 ; corresponding entry in (SYM_CTX_VALUES).
 ; If we find something, Z is set, otherwise unset.
@@ -277,7 +271,21 @@ symFind:
 	pop	ix
 	ret
 
-; Return value that (SYM_CTX_PTR) is pointing at in DE.
-symGetVal:
+; For a given symbol name in (HL), find it in the appropriate symbol register
+; and return its value in DE. If (HL) is a local label, the local register is
+; searched. Otherwise, the global one. It is assumed that this routine is
+; always called when the global registry is selected. Therefore, we always
+; reselect it afterwards.
+symFindVal:
+	call	symIsLabelLocal
+	jp	nz, .notLocal
+	call	symSelectLocalRegistry
+.notLocal:
+	call	symFind
+	jr	nz, .end
+	; Found! let's fetch value
+	; Return value that (SYM_CTX_PTR) is pointing at in DE.
 	ld	de, (SYM_CTX_PTR)
-	jp	intoDE
+	call	intoDE
+.end:
+	jp	symSelectGlobalRegistry
diff --git a/tools/emul/zasm/kernel.bin b/tools/emul/zasm/kernel.bin
index 5972a29..673bef5 100644
Binary files a/tools/emul/zasm/kernel.bin and b/tools/emul/zasm/kernel.bin differ
diff --git a/tools/emul/zasm/zasm.bin b/tools/emul/zasm/zasm.bin
index f5a567a..c8d8272 100644
Binary files a/tools/emul/zasm/zasm.bin and b/tools/emul/zasm/zasm.bin differ
diff --git a/tools/tests/unit/test_parse_z.asm b/tools/tests/unit/test_parse_z.asm
index a7f765a..f6a8023 100644
--- a/tools/tests/unit/test_parse_z.asm
+++ b/tools/tests/unit/test_parse_z.asm
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@ jp	test
 zasmGetPC:
 zasmIsFirstPass:
 symSelect:
-symFind:
-symGetVal:
+symFindVal:
 	jp	fail
 
 testNum:	.db 1
diff --git a/tools/tests/unit/test_symbol.asm b/tools/tests/unit/test_symbol.asm
index bff4b45..66cb5bd 100644
--- a/tools/tests/unit/test_symbol.asm
+++ b/tools/tests/unit/test_symbol.asm
@@ -34,9 +34,8 @@ test:
 	jp	nz, fail
 
 	ld	hl, sFOO
-	call	symFind		; don't match FOOBAR
+	call	symFindVal		; don't match FOOBAR
 	jp	nz, fail
-	call	symGetVal
 	ld	a, d
 	or	a
 	jp	nz, fail
diff --git a/tools/tests/zasm/runtests.sh b/tools/tests/zasm/runtests.sh
index ec217ca..2c20154 100755
--- a/tools/tests/zasm/runtests.sh
+++ b/tools/tests/zasm/runtests.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 set -e
 
-TMPFILE=$(mktemp)
 KERNEL=../../../kernel
 APPS=../../../apps
 ZASM=../../zasm.sh
@@ -10,9 +9,8 @@ ASMFILE=${APPS}/zasm/instr.asm
 
 cmpas() {
     FN=$1
-    shift 1
     EXPECTED=$(xxd ${FN}.expected)
-    ACTUAL=$(cat ${FN} | $ZASM "$@" | xxd)
+    ACTUAL=$(cat ${FN} | $ZASM "${KERNEL}" "${APPS}" | xxd)
     if [ "$ACTUAL" == "$EXPECTED" ]; then
         echo ok
     else
@@ -24,9 +22,14 @@ cmpas() {
     fi
 }
 
+if [[ ! -z $1 ]]; then
+    cmpas $1
+    exit 0
+fi
+
 for fn in *.asm; do
     echo "Comparing ${fn}"
-    cmpas $fn "${KERNEL}" "${APPS}"
+    cmpas $fn
 done
 
 ./errtests.sh
diff --git a/tools/tests/zasm/test7.asm.expected b/tools/tests/zasm/test7.asm.expected
index 2ee334e..2046b75 100644
Binary files a/tools/tests/zasm/test7.asm.expected and b/tools/tests/zasm/test7.asm.expected differ
diff --git a/tools/tests/zasm/test9.asm b/tools/tests/zasm/test9.asm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a10bbda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/tests/zasm/test9.asm
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+; test some weird label bug zasm had at some point. Simply to refer to a local
+; label in a .dw directive would mess up future label references.
+foo:
+	inc	a
+.bar:
+	inc	b
+.baz:
+	.dw	.bar
+
+loop:
+	jr	loop
diff --git a/tools/tests/zasm/test9.asm.expected b/tools/tests/zasm/test9.asm.expected
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19baa68
Binary files /dev/null and b/tools/tests/zasm/test9.asm.expected differ