diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/as_slice_length.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/as_slice_length.rs
index 59917e8589b..76705dcc9db 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/as_slice_length.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/opt/as_slice_length.rs
@@ -75,3 +75,34 @@ fn replace_known_slice_lengths(
         func.dfg.set_value_from_id(original_slice_length, known_length);
     });
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use crate::ssa::opt::assert_normalized_ssa_equals;
+
+    use super::Ssa;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn as_slice_length_optimization() {
+        // In this code we expect `return v2` to be replaced with `return u32 3` because
+        // that's the length of the v0 array.
+        let src = "
+            acir(inline) fn main f0 {
+              b0(v0: [Field; 3]):
+                v2, v3 = call as_slice(v0) -> (u32, [Field])
+                return v2
+            }
+            ";
+        let ssa = Ssa::from_str(src).unwrap();
+
+        let expected = "
+            acir(inline) fn main f0 {
+              b0(v0: [Field; 3]):
+                v2, v3 = call as_slice(v0) -> (u32, [Field])
+                return u32 3
+            }
+            ";
+        let ssa = ssa.as_slice_optimization();
+        assert_normalized_ssa_equals(ssa, expected);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser.rs
index bfdb08f85e6..717d2691b2f 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser.rs
@@ -81,15 +81,15 @@ impl Debug for SsaErrorWithSource {
 pub(crate) enum SsaError {
     #[error("{0}")]
     ParserError(ParserError),
-    #[error("Unknown variable `{0}`")]
+    #[error("Unknown variable '{0}'")]
     UnknownVariable(Identifier),
-    #[error("Unknown block `{0}`")]
+    #[error("Unknown block '{0}'")]
     UnknownBlock(Identifier),
-    #[error("Unknown function `{0}`")]
+    #[error("Unknown function '{0}'")]
     UnknownFunction(Identifier),
     #[error("Mismatched return values")]
     MismatchedReturnValues { returns: Vec<Identifier>, expected: usize },
-    #[error("Variable `{0}` already defined")]
+    #[error("Variable '{0}' already defined")]
     VariableAlreadyDefined(Identifier),
 }
 
@@ -647,10 +647,14 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
 
         if self.eat(Token::LeftBracket)? {
             let element_types = self.parse_types()?;
-            self.eat_or_error(Token::Semicolon)?;
-            let length = self.eat_int_or_error()?;
-            self.eat_or_error(Token::RightBracket)?;
-            return Ok(Type::Array(Arc::new(element_types), length.to_u128() as usize));
+            if self.eat(Token::Semicolon)? {
+                let length = self.eat_int_or_error()?;
+                self.eat_or_error(Token::RightBracket)?;
+                return Ok(Type::Array(Arc::new(element_types), length.to_u128() as usize));
+            } else {
+                self.eat_or_error(Token::RightBracket)?;
+                return Ok(Type::Slice(Arc::new(element_types)));
+            }
         }
 
         if let Some(typ) = self.parse_mutable_reference_type()? {
@@ -857,19 +861,19 @@ impl<'a> Parser<'a> {
 pub(crate) enum ParserError {
     #[error("{0}")]
     LexerError(LexerError),
-    #[error("Expected {token}, found {token}")]
+    #[error("Expected '{token}', found '{found}'")]
     ExpectedToken { token: Token, found: Token, span: Span },
     #[error("Expected one of {tokens:?}, found {found}")]
     ExpectedOneOfTokens { tokens: Vec<Token>, found: Token, span: Span },
-    #[error("Expected an identifier, found {found}")]
+    #[error("Expected an identifier, found '{found}'")]
     ExpectedIdentifier { found: Token, span: Span },
-    #[error("Expected an int, found {found}")]
+    #[error("Expected an int, found '{found}'")]
     ExpectedInt { found: Token, span: Span },
-    #[error("Expected a type, found {found}")]
+    #[error("Expected a type, found '{found}'")]
     ExpectedType { found: Token, span: Span },
-    #[error("Expected an instruction or terminator, found {found}")]
+    #[error("Expected an instruction or terminator, found '{found}'")]
     ExpectedInstructionOrTerminator { found: Token, span: Span },
-    #[error("Expected a value, found {found}")]
+    #[error("Expected a value, found '{found}'")]
     ExpectedValue { found: Token, span: Span },
     #[error("Multiple return values only allowed for call")]
     MultipleReturnValuesOnlyAllowedForCall { second_target: Identifier },
diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/lexer.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/lexer.rs
index 456e5ec15e0..ac4c3b77205 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/lexer.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/lexer.rs
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ type SpannedTokenResult = Result<SpannedToken, LexerError>;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
 pub(crate) enum LexerError {
-    #[error("Unexpected character: {char}")]
+    #[error("Unexpected character: {char:?}")]
     UnexpectedCharacter { char: char, span: Span },
     #[error("Invalid integer literal")]
     InvalidIntegerLiteral { span: Span, found: String },
diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/tests.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/tests.rs
index 1ec0161649b..3ed6be57b5e 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/tests.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/parser/tests.rs
@@ -413,3 +413,15 @@ fn test_parses_with_comments() {
     let ssa = Ssa::from_str(src).unwrap();
     assert_normalized_ssa_equals(ssa, expected);
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_slice() {
+    let src = "
+        acir(inline) fn main f0 {
+          b0(v0: [Field; 3]):
+            v2, v3 = call as_slice(v0) -> (u32, [Field])
+            return
+        }
+        ";
+    assert_ssa_roundtrip(src);
+}