diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
index 1f8dd5988e..e43ff0682d 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parse_keywords.rs
@@ -2894,7 +2894,9 @@ pub fn parse_let(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -> Pipeline
             // so that the var-id created by the variable isn't visible in the expression that init it
             for span in spans.iter().enumerate() {
                 let item = working_set.get_span_contents(*span.1);
-                if item == b"=" && spans.len() > (span.0 + 1) {
+                // https://github.com/nushell/nushell/issues/9596, let = if $
+                // let x = 'f', = at least start from index 2
+                if item == b"=" && spans.len() > (span.0 + 1) && span.0 > 1 {
                     let (tokens, parse_error) = lex(
                         working_set.get_span_contents(nu_protocol::span(&spans[(span.0 + 1)..])),
                         spans[span.0 + 1].start,
@@ -3013,7 +3015,8 @@ pub fn parse_const(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -> Pipelin
             // so that the var-id created by the variable isn't visible in the expression that init it
             for span in spans.iter().enumerate() {
                 let item = working_set.get_span_contents(*span.1);
-                if item == b"=" && spans.len() > (span.0 + 1) {
+                // const x = 'f', = at least start from index 2
+                if item == b"=" && spans.len() > (span.0 + 1) && span.0 > 1 {
                     let mut idx = span.0;
                     // let rvalue = parse_multispan_value(
                     //     working_set,
@@ -3151,7 +3154,8 @@ pub fn parse_mut(working_set: &mut StateWorkingSet, spans: &[Span]) -> Pipeline
             // so that the var-id created by the variable isn't visible in the expression that init it
             for span in spans.iter().enumerate() {
                 let item = working_set.get_span_contents(*span.1);
-                if item == b"=" && spans.len() > (span.0 + 1) {
+                // mut x = 'f', = at least start from index 2
+                if item == b"=" && spans.len() > (span.0 + 1) && span.0 > 1 {
                     let (tokens, parse_error) = lex(
                         working_set.get_span_contents(nu_protocol::span(&spans[(span.0 + 1)..])),
                         spans[span.0 + 1].start,
diff --git a/src/tests/test_parser.rs b/src/tests/test_parser.rs
index 65cf35d385..57e24aed53 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_parser.rs
+++ b/src/tests/test_parser.rs
@@ -145,6 +145,25 @@ fn bad_var_name2() -> TestResult {
     fail_test(r#"let $foo-bar = 4"#, "valid variable")
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn assignment_with_no_var() -> TestResult {
+    let cases = [
+        "let = if $",
+        "mut = if $",
+        "const = if $",
+        "let = 'foo' | $in; $x | describe",
+        "mut = 'foo' | $in; $x | describe",
+    ];
+
+    let expected = "valid variable";
+
+    for case in cases {
+        fail_test(case, expected)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn long_flag() -> TestResult {
     run_test(