diff --git a/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.cc b/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.cc
index e59d3f2d..d0f363d1 100644
--- a/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.cc
+++ b/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.cc
@@ -49,6 +49,19 @@ using rules::Symbol;
 using rules::Metadata;
 using rules::Seq;
 
+enum ConflictStatus {
+  DoesNotMatch = 0,
+  MatchesShorterStringWithinSeparators = 1 << 0,
+  MatchesSameString = 1 << 1,
+  MatchesLongerString = 1 << 2,
+  MatchesLongerStringWithValidNextChar = 1 << 3,
+  CannotDistinguish = (
+    MatchesShorterStringWithinSeparators |
+    MatchesSameString |
+    MatchesLongerStringWithValidNextChar
+  ),
+};
+
 static const std::unordered_set<ParseStateId> EMPTY;
 
 bool CoincidentTokenIndex::contains(Symbol a, Symbol b) const {
@@ -294,6 +307,18 @@ class LexTableBuilderImpl : public LexTableBuilder {
     return {main_lex_table, keyword_lex_table, word_rule};
   }
 
+  bool does_token_shadow_other(Symbol token, Symbol shadowed_token) const {
+    if (token == word_rule && keyword_symbols.contains(shadowed_token)) return false;
+    return get_conflict_status(shadowed_token, token) & (
+      MatchesShorterStringWithinSeparators |
+      MatchesLongerStringWithValidNextChar
+    );
+  }
+
+  bool does_token_match_same_string_as_other(Symbol token, Symbol shadowed_token) const {
+    return get_conflict_status(shadowed_token, token) & MatchesSameString;
+  }
+
   ConflictStatus get_conflict_status(Symbol shadowed_token, Symbol other_token) const {
     if (shadowed_token.is_built_in() ||
         other_token.is_built_in() ||
@@ -621,8 +646,12 @@ LexTableBuilder::BuildResult LexTableBuilder::build() {
   return static_cast<LexTableBuilderImpl *>(this)->build();
 }
 
-ConflictStatus LexTableBuilder::get_conflict_status(Symbol a, Symbol b) const {
-  return static_cast<const LexTableBuilderImpl *>(this)->get_conflict_status(a, b);
+bool LexTableBuilder::does_token_shadow_other(Symbol a, Symbol b) const {
+  return static_cast<const LexTableBuilderImpl *>(this)->does_token_shadow_other(a, b);
+}
+
+bool LexTableBuilder::does_token_match_same_string_as_other(Symbol a, Symbol b) const {
+  return static_cast<const LexTableBuilderImpl *>(this)->does_token_match_same_string_as_other(a, b);
 }
 
 }  // namespace build_tables
diff --git a/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.h b/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.h
index 4ec4f22b..d69b996b 100644
--- a/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.h
+++ b/src/compiler/build_tables/lex_table_builder.h
@@ -30,19 +30,6 @@ namespace build_tables {
 
 class LookaheadSet;
 
-enum ConflictStatus {
-  DoesNotMatch = 0,
-  MatchesShorterStringWithinSeparators = 1 << 0,
-  MatchesSameString = 1 << 1,
-  MatchesLongerString = 1 << 2,
-  MatchesLongerStringWithValidNextChar = 1 << 3,
-  CannotDistinguish = (
-    MatchesShorterStringWithinSeparators |
-    MatchesSameString |
-    MatchesLongerStringWithValidNextChar
-  ),
-};
-
 struct CoincidentTokenIndex {
   std::unordered_map<
     std::pair<rules::Symbol::Index, rules::Symbol::Index>,
@@ -69,7 +56,8 @@ class LexTableBuilder {
 
   BuildResult build();
 
-  ConflictStatus get_conflict_status(rules::Symbol, rules::Symbol) const;
+  bool does_token_shadow_other(rules::Symbol, rules::Symbol) const;
+  bool does_token_match_same_string_as_other(rules::Symbol, rules::Symbol) const;
 
  protected:
   LexTableBuilder() = default;
diff --git a/src/compiler/build_tables/parse_table_builder.cc b/src/compiler/build_tables/parse_table_builder.cc
index 0e6b4247..26dae5b7 100644
--- a/src/compiler/build_tables/parse_table_builder.cc
+++ b/src/compiler/build_tables/parse_table_builder.cc
@@ -134,11 +134,6 @@ class ParseTableBuilderImpl : public ParseTableBuilder {
   }
 
   void build_error_parse_state(ParseStateId state_id) {
-    unsigned CannotMerge = (
-      MatchesShorterStringWithinSeparators |
-      MatchesLongerStringWithValidNextChar
-    );
-
     parse_table.states[state_id].terminal_entries.clear();
 
     // First, identify the conflict-free tokens.
@@ -149,7 +144,7 @@ class ParseTableBuilderImpl : public ParseTableBuilder {
       for (unsigned j = 0; j < lexical_grammar.variables.size(); j++) {
         Symbol other_token = Symbol::terminal(j);
         if (!coincident_token_index.contains(token, other_token) &&
-            (lex_table_builder->get_conflict_status(other_token, token) & CannotMerge)) {
+            lex_table_builder->does_token_shadow_other(token, other_token)) {
           conflicts_with_other_tokens = true;
           break;
         }
@@ -171,7 +166,7 @@ class ParseTableBuilderImpl : public ParseTableBuilder {
         bool conflicts_with_other_tokens = false;
         conflict_free_tokens.for_each([&](Symbol other_token) {
           if (!coincident_token_index.contains(token, other_token) &&
-              (lex_table_builder->get_conflict_status(other_token, token) & CannotMerge)) {
+              lex_table_builder->does_token_shadow_other(token, other_token)) {
             LOG(
               "exclude %s: conflicts with %s",
               symbol_name(token).c_str(),
@@ -517,7 +512,8 @@ class ParseTableBuilderImpl : public ParseTableBuilder {
     // Do not add a token if it conflicts with an existing token.
     if (!new_token.is_built_in()) {
       for (const auto &entry : state.terminal_entries) {
-        if (lex_table_builder->get_conflict_status(entry.first, new_token) & CannotDistinguish) {
+        if (lex_table_builder->does_token_shadow_other(new_token, entry.first) ||
+            lex_table_builder->does_token_match_same_string_as_other(new_token, entry.first)) {
           LOG_IF(
             logged_conflict_tokens.insert({entry.first, new_token}).second,
             "cannot merge parse states due to token conflict: %s and %s",