diff --git a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
index 8e54d536b6..e932d64c18 100644
--- a/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-parser/src/parser.rs
@@ -596,6 +596,17 @@ pub fn parse_internal_call(
             //     spans_idx, end, positional_idx
             // );
 
+            if spans[..end].is_empty() {
+                error = error.or_else(|| {
+                    Some(ParseError::MissingPositional(
+                        positional.name.clone(),
+                        spans[spans_idx],
+                    ))
+                });
+                positional_idx += 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+
             let orig_idx = spans_idx;
             let (arg, err) = parse_multispan_value(
                 working_set,
diff --git a/src/tests/test_parser.rs b/src/tests/test_parser.rs
index 0f96c74c14..2bc9b10e84 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_parser.rs
+++ b/src/tests/test_parser.rs
@@ -118,3 +118,8 @@ fn long_flag() -> TestResult {
 fn let_not_statement() -> TestResult {
     fail_test(r#"let x = "hello" | str length"#, "can't")
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn for_in_missing_var_name() -> TestResult {
+    fail_test("for in", "missing")
+}