diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
index 839f43db88..27acdeca6b 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
@@ -469,15 +469,6 @@ pub fn parse_call(
     spans: &[Span],
     expand_aliases: bool,
 ) -> (Expression, Option<ParseError>) {
-    // We might be parsing left-unbounded range ("..10")
-    let bytes = working_set.get_span_contents(spans[0]);
-    if let (Some(b'.'), Some(b'.')) = (bytes.get(0), bytes.get(1)) {
-        let (range_expr, range_err) = parse_range(working_set, spans[0]);
-        if range_err.is_none() {
-            return (range_expr, range_err);
-        }
-    }
-
     // assume spans.len() > 0?
     let mut pos = 0;
     let mut shorthand = vec![];
@@ -601,6 +592,14 @@ pub fn parse_call(
             err,
         )
     } else {
+        // We might be parsing left-unbounded range ("..10")
+        let bytes = working_set.get_span_contents(spans[0]);
+        if let (Some(b'.'), Some(b'.')) = (bytes.get(0), bytes.get(1)) {
+            let (range_expr, range_err) = parse_range(working_set, spans[0]);
+            if range_err.is_none() {
+                return (range_expr, range_err);
+            }
+        }
         parse_external_call(working_set, spans)
     }
 }