diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
index 3aa133d177..4a67c98be8 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
@@ -2975,9 +2975,12 @@ pub fn parse_let(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -> Pipeline
                     };
 
                     let mut idx = 0;
-
                     let (lvalue, explicit_type) =
                         parse_var_with_opt_type(working_set, &spans[1..(span.0)], &mut idx, false);
+                    // check for extra tokens after the identifier
+                    if idx + 1 < span.0 - 1 {
+                        working_set.error(ParseError::ExtraTokens(spans[idx + 2]));
+                    }
 
                     let var_name =
                         String::from_utf8_lossy(working_set.get_span_contents(lvalue.span))
@@ -3083,6 +3086,10 @@ pub fn parse_const(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -> Pipelin
 
                     let (lvalue, explicit_type) =
                         parse_var_with_opt_type(working_set, &spans[1..(span.0)], &mut idx, false);
+                    // check for extra tokens after the identifier
+                    if idx + 1 < span.0 - 1 {
+                        working_set.error(ParseError::ExtraTokens(spans[idx + 2]));
+                    }
 
                     let var_name =
                         String::from_utf8_lossy(working_set.get_span_contents(lvalue.span))
@@ -3235,6 +3242,10 @@ pub fn parse_mut(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -> Pipeline
 
                     let (lvalue, explicit_type) =
                         parse_var_with_opt_type(working_set, &spans[1..(span.0)], &mut idx, true);
+                    // check for extra tokens after the identifier
+                    if idx + 1 < span.0 - 1 {
+                        working_set.error(ParseError::ExtraTokens(spans[idx + 2]));
+                    }
 
                     let var_name =
                         String::from_utf8_lossy(working_set.get_span_contents(lvalue.span))
diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
index 6fb5e67900..b937252d47 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
@@ -2893,6 +2893,10 @@ pub fn parse_import_pattern(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -
     }
 }
 
+/// Parse `spans[spans_idx..]` into a variable, with optional type annotation.
+/// If the name of the variable ends with a colon (no space in-between allowed), then a type annotation
+/// can appear after the variable, in which case the colon is stripped from the name of the variable.
+/// `spans_idx` is updated to point to the last span that has been parsed.
 pub fn parse_var_with_opt_type(
     working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet,
     spans: &[Span],
@@ -2928,7 +2932,7 @@ pub fn parse_var_with_opt_type(
             }
 
             let ty = parse_type(working_set, &type_bytes, tokens[0].span);
-            *spans_idx += spans.len() - *spans_idx - 1;
+            *spans_idx = spans.len() - 1;
 
             let var_name = bytes[0..(bytes.len() - 1)].to_vec();
 
@@ -2996,7 +3000,7 @@ pub fn parse_var_with_opt_type(
         (
             Expression {
                 expr: Expr::VarDecl(id),
-                span: span(&spans[*spans_idx..*spans_idx + 1]),
+                span: spans[*spans_idx],
                 ty: Type::Any,
                 custom_completion: None,
             },
diff --git a/tests/parsing/mod.rs b/tests/parsing/mod.rs
index 63e38d0d2c..be9f3aa4f6 100644
--- a/tests/parsing/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/parsing/mod.rs
@@ -331,3 +331,21 @@ fn parse_let_signature(#[case] phrase: &str) {
     let actual = nu!(phrase);
     assert!(actual.err.is_empty());
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn parse_let_signature_missing_colon() {
+    let actual = nu!("let a int = 1");
+    assert!(actual.err.contains("nu::parser::extra_tokens"));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn parse_mut_signature_missing_colon() {
+    let actual = nu!("mut a record<a: int b: int> = {a: 1 b: 1}");
+    assert!(actual.err.contains("nu::parser::extra_tokens"));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn parse_const_signature_missing_colon() {
+    let actual = nu!("const a string = 'Hello World\n'");
+    assert!(actual.err.contains("nu::parser::extra_tokens"));
+}