Still in 8101.... perl -we 'defined ${$1}' gives the errors Useless use of defined operator in void context at -e line 1. Modification of a read-only value attempted at -e line 1. Simpler examples give the expected warnings perl -we '${$1}' Useless use of a variable in void context at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value at -e line 1. perl -we 'defined ${+undef}' Useless use of defined operator in void context at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value at -e line 1. This didn't happen in perl5.003 FWIW. Something to do with autovivication of references to scalars?