diff --git a/src/Lean/Parser/Term.lean b/src/Lean/Parser/Term.lean
index 5dd1e4b9b7..b20ed8aeac 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Parser/Term.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Parser/Term.lean
@@ -106,7 +106,9 @@ withPosition $ fun pos =>
   (if optionalFirstBar then optional "| " else "| ") >>
   sepBy1 matchAlt (checkColGe pos.column "alternatives must be indented" >> "|")
 
-@[builtinTermParser] def «match» := parser!:leadPrec "match " >> sepBy1 termParser ", " >> optType >> " with " >> matchAlts
+def matchDiscr := optIdent >> termParser
+
+@[builtinTermParser] def «match» := parser!:leadPrec "match " >> sepBy1 matchDiscr ", " >> optType >> " with " >> matchAlts
 @[builtinTermParser] def «nomatch»  := parser!:leadPrec "nomatch " >> termParser
 def optExprPrecedence := optional (try ":" >> termParser maxPrec)
 @[builtinTermParser] def «parser!»  := parser!:leadPrec "parser! " >> optExprPrecedence >> termParser