diff --git a/src/interpreter.c b/src/interpreter.c
index feb0bbbe168a45..7c1f44092aa053 100644
--- a/src/interpreter.c
+++ b/src/interpreter.c
@@ -751,14 +751,25 @@ SECT_INTERP CALLBACK_ABI void *jl_interpret_call_callback(interpreter_state *s,
     locals[0] = (jl_value_t*)src;
     locals[1] = (jl_value_t*)stmts;
     s->src = src;
-    s->module = args->lam->def.method->module;
+    size_t nargs;
+    int isva;
+    if (jl_is_module(args->lam->def.value)) {
+        s->module = args->lam->def.module;
+        nargs = 0;
+        isva = 0;
+    }
+    else {
+        s->module = args->lam->def.method->module;
+        nargs = args->lam->def.method->nargs;
+        isva = args->lam->def.method->isva;
+    }
     s->locals = locals + 2;
     s->sparam_vals = args->lam->sparam_vals;
     s->continue_at = 0;
     s->mi = args->lam;
     size_t i;
-    for (i = 0; i < args->lam->def.method->nargs; i++) {
-        if (args->lam->def.method->isva && i == args->lam->def.method->nargs - 1)
+    for (i = 0; i < nargs; i++) {
+        if (isva && i == nargs - 1)
             s->locals[i] = jl_f_tuple(NULL, &args->args[i], args->nargs - i);
         else
             s->locals[i] = args->args[i];
diff --git a/test/core.jl b/test/core.jl
index 7e9f798156d4ca..f5be127e9db30b 100644
--- a/test/core.jl
+++ b/test/core.jl
@@ -6711,6 +6711,22 @@ struct T29145{A,B}
 end
 @test_throws TypeError T29145()
 
+# interpreted but inferred/optimized top-level expressions with vars
+let code = """
+           while true
+               try
+                   this_is_undefined_29213
+                   ed = 0
+                   break
+               finally
+                   break
+               end
+           end
+           print(42)
+           """
+    @test read(`$(Base.julia_cmd()) --startup-file=no --compile=min -e $code`, String) == "42"
+end
+
 # issue #29175
 function f29175(tuple::T) where {T<:Tuple}
     prefix::Tuple{T.parameters[1:end-1]...} = tuple[1:length(T.parameters)-1]