diff --git a/src/allocator.c b/src/allocator.c
index cc259e605c56573b506f39194793e804ab4bf8b6..2ff5cacaa0e05da47ac851ef1ff71239ed5cde3b 100644
--- a/src/allocator.c
+++ b/src/allocator.c
@@ -29,24 +29,35 @@ struct arena_link {
   // For efficiency, we should probably allocate the arena links in 
   // their own slice, and link to a block directly. That can be
   // implemented later, though, with no change in interface.
-  struct arena_link *next; // It is crucial that this be the first item; so that 
-                           // any arena link can be casted to struct arena_link**.
-
+  struct arena_link *next;
   size_t free;
   size_t used;
   uint8_t rest[];
-} ;
+};
 
 struct HArena_ {
   struct arena_link *head;
   struct HAllocator_ *mm__;
+  /* does mm__ zero blocks for us? */
+  bool malloc_zeros;
   size_t block_size;
   size_t used;
   size_t wasted;
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+  size_t mm_malloc_count, mm_malloc_bytes;
+  size_t memset_count, memset_bytes;
+  size_t arena_malloc_count, arena_malloc_bytes;
+  size_t arena_su_malloc_count, arena_su_malloc_bytes;
+  size_t arena_si_malloc_count, arena_si_malloc_bytes;
+  size_t arena_lu_malloc_count, arena_lu_malloc_bytes;
+  size_t arena_li_malloc_count, arena_li_malloc_bytes;
+#endif
 
   jmp_buf *except;
 };
 
+static void * h_arena_malloc_raw(HArena *arena, size_t size, bool need_zero);
+
 void* h_alloc(HAllocator* mm__, size_t size) {
   void *p = mm__->alloc(mm__, size);
   if(!p)
@@ -61,7 +72,6 @@ HArena *h_new_arena(HAllocator* mm__, size_t block_size) {
   struct arena_link *link = (struct arena_link*)h_alloc(mm__, sizeof(struct arena_link) + block_size);
   assert(ret != NULL);
   assert(link != NULL);
-  memset(link, 0, sizeof(struct arena_link) + block_size);
   link->free = block_size;
   link->used = 0;
   link->next = NULL;
@@ -69,6 +79,19 @@ HArena *h_new_arena(HAllocator* mm__, size_t block_size) {
   ret->block_size = block_size;
   ret->used = 0;
   ret->mm__ = mm__;
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+  ret->mm_malloc_count = 2;
+  ret->mm_malloc_bytes = sizeof(*ret) + sizeof(struct arena_link) + block_size;
+  ret->memset_count = 0;
+  ret->memset_bytes = 0;
+  ret->arena_malloc_count = ret->arena_malloc_bytes = 0;
+  ret->arena_su_malloc_count = ret->arena_su_malloc_bytes = 0;
+  ret->arena_si_malloc_count = ret->arena_si_malloc_bytes = 0;
+  ret->arena_lu_malloc_count = ret->arena_lu_malloc_bytes = 0;
+  ret->arena_li_malloc_count = ret->arena_li_malloc_bytes = 0;
+#endif
+  /* XXX provide a mechanism to indicate mm__ returns zeroed blocks */
+  ret->malloc_zeros = false;
   ret->wasted = sizeof(struct arena_link) + sizeof(struct HArena_) + block_size;
   ret->except = NULL;
   return ret;
@@ -90,39 +113,120 @@ static void *alloc_block(HArena *arena, size_t size)
   return block;
 }
 
-void* h_arena_malloc(HArena *arena, size_t size) {
+void * h_arena_malloc_noinit(HArena *arena, size_t size) {
+  return h_arena_malloc_raw(arena, size, false);
+}
+
+void * h_arena_malloc(HArena *arena, size_t size) {
+  return h_arena_malloc_raw(arena, size, true);
+}
+
+static void * h_arena_malloc_raw(HArena *arena, size_t size,
+                                 bool need_zero) {
+  struct arena_link *link = NULL;
+  void *ret = NULL;
+
   if (size <= arena->head->free) {
-    // fast path..
-    void* ret = arena->head->rest + arena->head->used;
+    /* fast path.. */
+    ret = arena->head->rest + arena->head->used;
     arena->used += size;
     arena->wasted -= size;
     arena->head->used += size;
     arena->head->free -= size;
-    return ret;
+
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+    ++(arena->arena_malloc_count);
+    arena->arena_malloc_bytes += size;
+    if (need_zero) {
+      ++(arena->arena_si_malloc_count);
+      arena->arena_si_malloc_bytes += size;
+    } else {
+      ++(arena->arena_su_malloc_count);
+      arena->arena_su_malloc_bytes += size;
+    }
+#endif
   } else if (size > arena->block_size) {
-    // We need a new, dedicated block for it, because it won't fit in a standard sized one.
-    // This involves some annoying casting...
-    arena->used += size;
-    arena->wasted += sizeof(struct arena_link*);
-    void* link = alloc_block(arena, size + sizeof(struct arena_link*));
+    /*
+     * We need a new, dedicated block for it, because it won't fit in a
+     * standard sized one.
+     *
+     * NOTE:
+     *
+     * We used to do a silly casting dance to treat blocks like this
+     * as special cases and make the used/free fields part of the allocated
+     * block, but the old code was not really proper portable C and depended
+     * on a bunch of implementation-specific behavior.  We could have done it
+     * better with a union in struct arena_link, but the memory savings is
+     * only 0.39% for a 64-bit machine, a 4096-byte block size and all
+     * large allocations *only just one byte* over the block size, so I
+     * question the utility of it.  We do still slip the large block in
+     * one position behind the list head so it doesn't cut off a partially
+     * filled list head.
+     *
+     * -- andrea
+     */
+    link = alloc_block(arena, size + sizeof(struct arena_link));
     assert(link != NULL);
-    memset(link, 0, size + sizeof(struct arena_link*));
-    *(struct arena_link**)link = arena->head->next;
-    arena->head->next = (struct arena_link*)link;
-    return (void*)(((uint8_t*)link) + sizeof(struct arena_link*));
+    arena->used += size;
+    arena->wasted += sizeof(struct arena_link);
+    link->used = size;
+    link->free = 0;
+    link->next = arena->head->next;
+    arena->head->next = link;
+    ret = link->rest;
+
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+    ++(arena->arena_malloc_count);
+    arena->arena_malloc_bytes += size;
+    if (need_zero) {
+      ++(arena->arena_li_malloc_count);
+      arena->arena_li_malloc_bytes += size;
+    } else {
+      ++(arena->arena_lu_malloc_count);
+      arena->arena_lu_malloc_bytes += size;
+    }
+#endif
   } else {
-    // we just need to allocate an ordinary new block.
-    struct arena_link *link = alloc_block(arena, sizeof(struct arena_link) + arena->block_size);
+    /* we just need to allocate an ordinary new block. */
+    link = alloc_block(arena, sizeof(struct arena_link) + arena->block_size);
     assert(link != NULL);
-    memset(link, 0, sizeof(struct arena_link) + arena->block_size);
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+    ++(arena->mm_malloc_count);
+    arena->mm_malloc_bytes += sizeof(struct arena_link) + arena->block_size;
+#endif
     link->free = arena->block_size - size;
     link->used = size;
     link->next = arena->head;
     arena->head = link;
     arena->used += size;
     arena->wasted += sizeof(struct arena_link) + arena->block_size - size;
-    return link->rest;
+    ret = link->rest;
+
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+    ++(arena->arena_malloc_count);
+    arena->arena_malloc_bytes += size;
+    if (need_zero) {
+      ++(arena->arena_si_malloc_count);
+      arena->arena_si_malloc_bytes += size;
+    } else {
+      ++(arena->arena_su_malloc_count);
+      arena->arena_su_malloc_bytes += size;
+    }
+#endif
   }
+
+  /*
+   * Zeroize if necessary
+   */
+  if (need_zero && !(arena->malloc_zeros)) {
+    memset(ret, 0, size);
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+    ++(arena->memset_count);
+    arena->memset_bytes += size;
+#endif
+  }
+
+  return ret;
 }
 
 void h_arena_free(HArena *arena, void* ptr) {
@@ -146,4 +250,20 @@ void h_delete_arena(HArena *arena) {
 void h_allocator_stats(HArena *arena, HArenaStats *stats) {
   stats->used = arena->used;
   stats->wasted = arena->wasted;
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+  stats->mm_malloc_count = arena->mm_malloc_count;
+  stats->mm_malloc_bytes = arena->mm_malloc_bytes;
+  stats->memset_count = arena->memset_count;
+  stats->memset_bytes = arena->memset_bytes;
+  stats->arena_malloc_count = arena->arena_malloc_count;
+  stats->arena_malloc_bytes = arena->arena_malloc_bytes;
+  stats->arena_su_malloc_count = arena->arena_su_malloc_count;
+  stats->arena_su_malloc_bytes = arena->arena_su_malloc_bytes;
+  stats->arena_si_malloc_count = arena->arena_si_malloc_count;
+  stats->arena_si_malloc_bytes = arena->arena_si_malloc_bytes;
+  stats->arena_lu_malloc_count = arena->arena_lu_malloc_count;
+  stats->arena_lu_malloc_bytes = arena->arena_lu_malloc_bytes;
+  stats->arena_li_malloc_count = arena->arena_li_malloc_count;
+  stats->arena_li_malloc_bytes = arena->arena_li_malloc_bytes;
+#endif
 }
diff --git a/src/allocator.h b/src/allocator.h
index dc88af68f22895f584065a491463b3f8576c09e9..06d1e6f59dd32987979079c4a7b01d09b13547e6 100644
--- a/src/allocator.h
+++ b/src/allocator.h
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ extern "C" {
 # define ATTR_MALLOC(n)
 #endif
 
+/* #define DETAILED_ARENA_STATS */
+
 // TODO(thequux): Turn this into an "HAllocatorVtable", and add a wrapper that also takes an environment pointer.
 typedef struct HAllocator_ {
   void* (*alloc)(struct HAllocator_* allocator, size_t size);
@@ -51,6 +53,7 @@ typedef struct HArena_ HArena ; // hidden implementation
 
 HArena *h_new_arena(HAllocator* allocator, size_t block_size); // pass 0 for default...
 
+void* h_arena_malloc_noinit(HArena *arena, size_t count) ATTR_MALLOC(2);
 void* h_arena_malloc(HArena *arena, size_t count) ATTR_MALLOC(2);
 void h_arena_free(HArena *arena, void* ptr); // For future expansion, with alternate memory managers.
 void h_delete_arena(HArena *arena);
@@ -59,6 +62,26 @@ void h_arena_set_except(HArena *arena, jmp_buf *except);
 typedef struct {
   size_t used;
   size_t wasted;
+#ifdef DETAILED_ARENA_STATS
+  size_t mm_malloc_count;
+  size_t mm_malloc_bytes;
+  size_t memset_count;
+  size_t memset_bytes;
+  size_t arena_malloc_count;
+  size_t arena_malloc_bytes;
+  /* small, uninited */
+  size_t arena_su_malloc_count;
+  size_t arena_su_malloc_bytes;
+  /* small, inited */
+  size_t arena_si_malloc_count;
+  size_t arena_si_malloc_bytes;
+  /* large, uninited */
+  size_t arena_lu_malloc_count;
+  size_t arena_lu_malloc_bytes;
+  /* large, inited */
+  size_t arena_li_malloc_count;
+  size_t arena_li_malloc_bytes;
+#endif
 } HArenaStats;
 
 void h_allocator_stats(HArena *arena, HArenaStats *stats);
diff --git a/src/backends/packrat.c b/src/backends/packrat.c
index 91e4a09224cb03c4eac23d1713dbbc70941d6618..ab0f8748d963b141375f54525b7217e978f43ff4 100644
--- a/src/backends/packrat.c
+++ b/src/backends/packrat.c
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@
 #include "../internal.h"
 #include "../parsers/parser_internal.h"
 
+/* #define DETAILED_PACKRAT_STATISTICS */
+
+#ifdef DETAILED_PACKRAT_STATISTICS
+static size_t packrat_hash_count = 0;
+static size_t packrat_hash_bytes = 0;
+static size_t packrat_cmp_count = 0;
+static size_t packrat_cmp_bytes = 0;
+#endif
+
 static uint32_t cache_key_hash(const void* key);
 
 // short-hand for creating lowlevel parse cache values (parse result case)
@@ -262,17 +271,34 @@ void h_packrat_free(HParser *parser) {
 }
 
 static uint32_t cache_key_hash(const void* key) {
+#ifdef DETAILED_PACKRAT_STATISTICS
+  ++(packrat_hash_count);
+  packrat_hash_bytes += sizeof(HParserCacheKey);
+#endif
   return h_djbhash(key, sizeof(HParserCacheKey));
 }
+
 static bool cache_key_equal(const void* key1, const void* key2) {
+#ifdef DETAILED_PACKRAT_STATISTICS
+  ++(packrat_cmp_count);
+  packrat_cmp_bytes += sizeof(HParserCacheKey);
+#endif
   return memcmp(key1, key2, sizeof(HParserCacheKey)) == 0;
 }
 
 static uint32_t pos_hash(const void* key) {
+#ifdef DETAILED_PACKRAT_STATISTICS
+  ++(packrat_hash_count);
+  packrat_hash_bytes += sizeof(HInputStream);
+#endif
   return h_djbhash(key, sizeof(HInputStream));
 }
 
 static bool pos_equal(const void* key1, const void* key2) {
+#ifdef DETAILED_PACKRAT_STATISTICS
+  ++(packrat_cmp_count);
+  packrat_cmp_bytes += sizeof(HInputStream);
+#endif
   return memcmp(key1, key2, sizeof(HInputStream)) == 0;
 }
 
@@ -294,6 +320,7 @@ HParseResult *h_packrat_parse(HAllocator* mm__, const HParser* parser, HInputStr
   parse_state->lr_stack = h_slist_new(arena);
   parse_state->recursion_heads = h_hashtable_new(arena, pos_equal, pos_hash);
   parse_state->arena = arena;
+  parse_state->symbol_table = NULL;
   HParseResult *res = h_do_parse(parser, parse_state);
   h_slist_free(parse_state->lr_stack);
   h_hashtable_free(parse_state->recursion_heads);
diff --git a/src/backends/regex.c b/src/backends/regex.c
index c10c25890fd5bfdf5e3e9b37a64e988fd3010749..f26abfda67af76900010053c6a6003fad1df55e7 100644
--- a/src/backends/regex.c
+++ b/src/backends/regex.c
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 
 #undef a_new
 #define a_new(typ, count) a_new_(arena, typ, count)
+#undef a_new0
+#define a_new0(typ, count) a_new0_(arena, typ, count)
 // Stack VM
 typedef enum HSVMOp_ {
   SVM_PUSH, // Push a mark. There is no VM insn to push an object.
@@ -67,13 +69,13 @@ void* h_rvm_run__m(HAllocator *mm__, HRVMProg *prog, const uint8_t* input, size_
     goto end;
 
   HSArray *heads_n = heads_a, *heads_p = heads_b;
-  uint8_t *insn_seen = a_new(uint8_t, prog->length); // 0 -> not seen, 1->processed, 2->queued
-  HRVMThread *ip_queue = a_new(HRVMThread, prog->length);
+  uint8_t *insn_seen = a_new0(uint8_t, prog->length); // 0 -> not seen, 1->processed, 2->queued
+  HRVMThread *ip_queue = a_new0(HRVMThread, prog->length);
   size_t ipq_top;
 
 #define THREAD ip_queue[ipq_top-1]
 #define PUSH_SVM(op_, arg_) do { \
-	  HRVMTrace *nt = a_new(HRVMTrace, 1); \
+	  HRVMTrace *nt = a_new0(HRVMTrace, 1); \
 	  nt->arg = (arg_);		       \
 	  nt->opcode = (op_);		       \
 	  nt->next = THREAD.trace;	       \
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ void* h_rvm_run__m(HAllocator *mm__, HRVMProg *prog, const uint8_t* input, size_
 	  THREAD.trace = nt;		       \
   } while(0)
 
-  ((HRVMTrace*)h_sarray_set(heads_n, 0, a_new(HRVMTrace, 1)))->opcode = SVM_NOP; // Initial thread
+  ((HRVMTrace*)h_sarray_set(heads_n, 0, a_new0(HRVMTrace, 1)))->opcode = SVM_NOP; // Initial thread
   
   size_t off = 0;
   int live_threads = 1; // May be redundant
@@ -257,7 +259,7 @@ HParseResult *run_trace(HAllocator *mm__, HRVMProg *orig_prog, HRVMTrace *trace,
       if (!svm_stack_ensure_cap(mm__, ctx, 1)) {
 	goto fail;
       }
-      tmp_res = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
+      tmp_res = a_new0(HParsedToken, 1);
       tmp_res->token_type = TT_MARK;
       tmp_res->index = cur->input_pos;
       tmp_res->bit_offset = 0;
@@ -288,7 +290,7 @@ HParseResult *run_trace(HAllocator *mm__, HRVMProg *orig_prog, HRVMTrace *trace,
       break;
     case SVM_ACCEPT:
       assert(ctx->stack_count <= 1);
-      HParseResult *res = a_new(HParseResult, 1);
+      HParseResult *res = a_new0(HParseResult, 1);
       if (ctx->stack_count == 1) {
 	res->ast = ctx->stack[0];
       } else {
diff --git a/src/datastructures.c b/src/datastructures.c
index 99d821f1a93e8fbfa2189a581b6fd59afb367bc7..ba012b76b6a6af23929e47af655a68cd294bf268 100644
--- a/src/datastructures.c
+++ b/src/datastructures.c
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@
 
 
 HCountedArray *h_carray_new_sized(HArena * arena, size_t size) {
-  HCountedArray *ret = h_arena_malloc(arena, sizeof(HCountedArray));
+  /* _noinit here because we init all the elements below */
+  HCountedArray *ret = h_arena_malloc_noinit(arena, sizeof(HCountedArray));
   if (size == 0)
     size = 1;
   ret->used = 0;
   ret->capacity = size;
   ret->arena = arena;
+  /* we actually want to zero these */
   ret->elements = h_arena_malloc(arena, sizeof(void*) * size);
   return ret;
 }
@@ -24,12 +26,21 @@ HCountedArray *h_carray_new(HArena * arena) {
 }
 
 void h_carray_append(HCountedArray *array, void* item) {
+  HParsedToken **elements;
+
   if (array->used >= array->capacity) {
-    HParsedToken **elements = h_arena_malloc(array->arena, (array->capacity *= 2) * sizeof(void*));
+    /* _noinit here; we init below */
+    elements = h_arena_malloc_noinit(array->arena,
+        (array->capacity *= 2) * sizeof(void*));
     for (size_t i = 0; i < array->used; i++)
       elements[i] = array->elements[i];
     for (size_t i = array->used; i < array->capacity; i++)
       elements[i] = 0;
+    /*
+     * XXX I hope we don't use this much, because h_arena_free() doesn't
+     * quite seem to be there and doing a lot of this would get pretty
+     * wasteful.
+     */
     h_arena_free(array->arena, array->elements);
     array->elements = elements;
   }
@@ -38,7 +49,8 @@ void h_carray_append(HCountedArray *array, void* item) {
 
 // HSlist
 HSlist* h_slist_new(HArena *arena) {
-  HSlist *ret = h_arena_malloc(arena, sizeof(HSlist));
+  /* _noinit here; we set every element of ret below */
+  HSlist *ret = h_arena_malloc_noinit(arena, sizeof(HSlist));
   ret->head = NULL;
   ret->arena = arena;
   return ret;
@@ -53,8 +65,12 @@ HSlist* h_slist_copy(HSlist *slist) {
     tail = ret->head;
     head = head->next;
     while (head != NULL) {
-      // append head item to tail in a new node
-      HSlistNode *node = h_arena_malloc(slist->arena, sizeof(HSlistNode));
+      /*
+       * append head item to tail in a new node
+       *
+       * use _noinit; we set every element of node after we allocate
+       */
+      HSlistNode *node = h_arena_malloc_noinit(slist->arena, sizeof(HSlistNode));
       node->elem = head->elem;
       node->next = NULL;
       tail = tail->next = node;
@@ -85,10 +101,11 @@ void* h_slist_pop(HSlist *slist) {
 }
 
 void h_slist_push(HSlist *slist, void* item) {
-  HSlistNode *hnode = h_arena_malloc(slist->arena, sizeof(HSlistNode));
+  /* use _noinit; we set every element of node */
+  HSlistNode *hnode = h_arena_malloc_noinit(slist->arena, sizeof(HSlistNode));
   hnode->elem = item;
   hnode->next = slist->head;
-  // write memory barrier here.
+  /* write memory barrier here. */
   slist->head = hnode;
 }
 
@@ -132,20 +149,23 @@ void h_slist_free(HSlist *slist) {
 }
 
 HHashTable* h_hashtable_new(HArena *arena, HEqualFunc equalFunc, HHashFunc hashFunc) {
-  HHashTable *ht = h_arena_malloc(arena, sizeof(HHashTable));
+  /* _noinit because all fields are set below */
+  HHashTable *ht = h_arena_malloc_noinit(arena, sizeof(HHashTable));
   ht->hashFunc = hashFunc;
   ht->equalFunc = equalFunc;
   ht->capacity = 64; // to start; should be tuned later...
   ht->used = 0;
   ht->arena = arena;
-  ht->contents = h_arena_malloc(arena, sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
+  /* _noinit because all fields of all entries are set in the loop */
+  ht->contents = h_arena_malloc_noinit(arena,
+      sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
   for (size_t i = 0; i < ht->capacity; i++) {
     ht->contents[i].key = NULL;
     ht->contents[i].value = NULL;
     ht->contents[i].next = NULL;
     ht->contents[i].hashval = 0;
   }
-  //memset(ht->contents, 0, sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
+
   return ht;
 }
 
@@ -183,26 +203,33 @@ void * h_hashtable_get(const HHashTable *ht, const void *key) {
 void h_hashtable_put_raw(HHashTable* ht, HHashTableEntry* new_entry);
 
 void h_hashtable_ensure_capacity(HHashTable* ht, size_t n) {
+  HHashTableEntry *old_contents, *new_contents;
   bool do_resize = false;
   size_t old_capacity = ht->capacity;
   while (n * 1.3 > ht->capacity) {
     ht->capacity *= 2;
     do_resize = true;
   }
-  if (!do_resize)
-    return;
-  HHashTableEntry *old_contents = ht->contents;
-  HHashTableEntry *new_contents = h_arena_malloc(ht->arena, sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
-  ht->contents = new_contents;
-  ht->used = 0;
-  memset(new_contents, 0, sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
-  for (size_t i = 0; i < old_capacity; ++i)
-    for (HHashTableEntry *entry = &old_contents[i];
-	 entry;
-	 entry = entry->next)
-      if (entry->key)
-	h_hashtable_put_raw(ht, entry);
-  //h_arena_free(ht->arena, old_contents);
+
+  if (do_resize) {
+    old_contents = ht->contents;
+    /* _noinit because we set the whole thing below */
+    new_contents = h_arena_malloc_noinit(ht->arena,
+        sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
+    ht->contents = new_contents;
+    ht->used = 0;
+    memset(new_contents, 0, sizeof(HHashTableEntry) * ht->capacity);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < old_capacity; ++i) {
+      for (HHashTableEntry *entry = &old_contents[i];
+           entry;
+           entry = entry->next) {
+        if (entry->key) {
+          h_hashtable_put_raw(ht, entry);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    /* h_arena_free(ht->arena, old_contents); */
+  }
 }
 
 void h_hashtable_put_precomp(HHashTable *ht, const void *key, void *value,
@@ -249,7 +276,7 @@ void h_hashtable_put_raw(HHashTable* ht, HHashTableEntry *new_entry) {
     }
     // Add a new link...
     assert (hte->next == NULL);
-    hte->next = h_arena_malloc(ht->arena, sizeof(HHashTableEntry));
+    hte->next = h_arena_malloc_noinit(ht->arena, sizeof(HHashTableEntry));
     hte = hte->next;
     hte->next = NULL;
     ht->used++;
diff --git a/src/glue.c b/src/glue.c
index 37962e849283951972ed60094345bec62b57434f..da2f3af329232fc16c690441e679deefe7ed76e5 100644
--- a/src/glue.c
+++ b/src/glue.c
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ HParsedToken *h_act_flatten(const HParseResult *p, void* user_data) {
   res->seq = seq;
   res->index = p->ast->index;
   res->bit_offset = p->ast->bit_offset;
+  res->bit_length = p->bit_length;
   return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/bits.c b/src/parsers/bits.c
index 288e3e95a45a7709e942d9987cda37c7e55819b5..2b977a27401610a071f0bac42b7404f828351eed 100644
--- a/src/parsers/bits.c
+++ b/src/parsers/bits.c
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ static HParseResult* parse_bits(void* env, HParseState *state) {
     result->sint = h_read_bits(&state->input_stream, env_->length, true);
   else
     result->uint = h_read_bits(&state->input_stream, env_->length, false);
+  result->index = 0;
+  result->bit_length = 0;
+  result->bit_offset = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, result);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/ch.c b/src/parsers/ch.c
index 3da1091a4b71505aebdc6ed5b396084d12b1fde4..c878f9d08659a1cb6ae39f95b06c522c1a5a185f 100644
--- a/src/parsers/ch.c
+++ b/src/parsers/ch.c
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ static HParseResult* parse_ch(void* env, HParseState *state) {
   if (c == r) {
     HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);    
     tok->token_type = TT_UINT; tok->uint = r;
+    tok->index = 0;
+    tok->bit_length = 0;
+    tok->bit_offset = 0;
     return make_result(state->arena, tok);
   } else {
     return NULL;
diff --git a/src/parsers/charset.c b/src/parsers/charset.c
index a4b8c89c7daca326cf77ee9bf5c8ae4660884c56..01657386f68e9788e69635790df6efb600de4c94 100644
--- a/src/parsers/charset.c
+++ b/src/parsers/charset.c
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ static HParseResult* parse_charset(void *env, HParseState *state) {
   if (charset_isset(cs, in)) {
     HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
     tok->token_type = TT_UINT; tok->uint = in;
+    tok->index = 0;
+    tok->bit_length = 0;
+    tok->bit_offset = 0;
     return make_result(state->arena, tok);    
   } else
     return NULL;
diff --git a/src/parsers/end.c b/src/parsers/end.c
index 85499d9348cd1df6503428a55d7a2ab878d1ef63..35e4186d430d8b48fe5cd1e41552403d6f95e562 100644
--- a/src/parsers/end.c
+++ b/src/parsers/end.c
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ static HParseResult* parse_end(void *env, HParseState *state) {
   if (state->input_stream.index == state->input_stream.length) {
     HParseResult *ret = a_new(HParseResult, 1);
     ret->ast = NULL;
+    ret->bit_length = 0;
+    ret->arena = state->arena;
     return ret;
   } else {
     return NULL;
diff --git a/src/parsers/epsilon.c b/src/parsers/epsilon.c
index bb6e8beb31cca3ff09a565171b4e554e07f2ffad..be614489cecfec6f30e4c2bfdd18c323be894446 100644
--- a/src/parsers/epsilon.c
+++ b/src/parsers/epsilon.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ static HParseResult* parse_epsilon(void* env, HParseState* state) {
   HParseResult* res = a_new(HParseResult, 1);
   res->ast = NULL;
   res->arena = state->arena;
+  res->bit_length = 0;
   return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/ignore.c b/src/parsers/ignore.c
index c56802ac0885fc11429925f353a516d622b88a9d..7eda13d23eecfc771eb82d40db90c81387be146f 100644
--- a/src/parsers/ignore.c
+++ b/src/parsers/ignore.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ static HParseResult* parse_ignore(void* env, HParseState* state) {
   HParseResult *res = a_new(HParseResult, 1);
   res->ast = NULL;
   res->arena = state->arena;
+  res->bit_length = 0;
   return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/many.c b/src/parsers/many.c
index 77b9dd8be220d92eac36b18ddbcd2fe263945448..655dd1497667f44b3de6694a0109c6f58804167d 100644
--- a/src/parsers/many.c
+++ b/src/parsers/many.c
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ static HParseResult *parse_many(void* env, HParseState *state) {
   HParsedToken *res = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
   res->token_type = TT_SEQUENCE;
   res->seq = seq;
+  res->index = 0;
+  res->bit_length = 0;
+  res->bit_offset = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, res);
  err0:
   if (count >= env_->count) {
@@ -85,6 +88,7 @@ static HParsedToken *reshape_many(const HParseResult *p, void *user)
   res->seq = seq;
   res->index = p->ast->index;
   res->bit_offset = p->ast->bit_offset;
+  res->bit_length = p->bit_length;
   return res;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/optional.c b/src/parsers/optional.c
index 726606643056b103f9481cb882dadc19417dd607..6a2789e2d0a86a8c4e6b141825fd3abc075af5d0 100644
--- a/src/parsers/optional.c
+++ b/src/parsers/optional.c
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ static HParseResult* parse_optional(void* env, HParseState* state) {
   state->input_stream = bak;
   HParsedToken *ast = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
   ast->token_type = TT_NONE;
+  ast->index = 0;
+  ast->bit_length = 0;
+  ast->bit_offset = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, ast);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/parser_internal.h b/src/parsers/parser_internal.h
index 9a3b6de3898b42336a84bfe565448c27315e29bb..ebc5f4b32992d77cae4e6b512d17e3a39729e14f 100644
--- a/src/parsers/parser_internal.h
+++ b/src/parsers/parser_internal.h
@@ -10,12 +10,13 @@
 #include "../backends/regex.h"
 #include "../backends/contextfree.h"
 
-#define a_new_(arena, typ, count) ((typ*)h_arena_malloc((arena), sizeof(typ)*(count)))
+#define a_new_(arena, typ, count) ((typ*)h_arena_malloc_noinit((arena), sizeof(typ)*(count)))
 #define a_new(typ, count) a_new_(state->arena, typ, count)
-// we can create a_new0 if necessary. It would allocate some memory and immediately zero it out.
+#define a_new0_(arena, typ, count) ((typ*)h_arena_malloc((arena), sizeof(typ)*(count)))
+#define a_new0(typ, count) a_new0_(state->arena, typ, count)
 
 static inline HParseResult* make_result(HArena *arena, HParsedToken *tok) {
-  HParseResult *ret = h_arena_malloc(arena, sizeof(HParseResult));
+  HParseResult *ret = h_arena_malloc_noinit(arena, sizeof(HParseResult));
   ret->ast = tok;
   ret->arena = arena;
   ret->bit_length = 0; // This way it gets overridden in h_do_parse
diff --git a/src/parsers/permutation.c b/src/parsers/permutation.c
index ec256c4af1f76292847102d0a07eca5cb19e5bae..c40f99da2d52eea8dcbce93882d4aed7a0307360 100644
--- a/src/parsers/permutation.c
+++ b/src/parsers/permutation.c
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ static HParseResult *parse_permutation(void *env, HParseState *state)
     HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
     tok->token_type  = TT_SEQUENCE;
     tok->seq = seq;
+    tok->index = 0;
+    tok->bit_length = 0;
+    tok->bit_offset = 0;
     return make_result(state->arena, tok);
   } else {
     // no parse
diff --git a/src/parsers/seek.c b/src/parsers/seek.c
index 027098b59424a2f78c9b54a0683e66111c02863f..d5bc02840f0145dc3089e82c11068359932b454c 100644
--- a/src/parsers/seek.c
+++ b/src/parsers/seek.c
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ static HParseResult *parse_seek(void *env, HParseState *state)
   HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
   tok->token_type = TT_UINT;
   tok->uint = pos;
+  tok->index = 0;
+  tok->bit_length = 0;
+  tok->bit_offset = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, tok);
 }
 
@@ -57,6 +60,9 @@ static HParseResult *parse_tell(void *env, HParseState *state)
   HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
   tok->token_type = TT_UINT;
   tok->uint = h_input_stream_pos(&state->input_stream);
+  tok->index = 0;
+  tok->bit_length = 0;
+  tok->bit_offset = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, tok);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/parsers/sequence.c b/src/parsers/sequence.c
index 786ba62e43683f32ca0cc244bc0695cdb04a76fd..2e7b4bc7286ec0ac32af012126e4289226297be0 100644
--- a/src/parsers/sequence.c
+++ b/src/parsers/sequence.c
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ static HParseResult* parse_sequence(void *env, HParseState *state) {
   }
   HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
   tok->token_type = TT_SEQUENCE; tok->seq = seq;
+  tok->index = 0;
+  tok->bit_offset = 0;
+  tok->bit_length = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, tok);
 }
 
@@ -60,6 +63,7 @@ static HParsedToken *reshape_sequence(const HParseResult *p, void* user_data) {
   res->seq = seq;
   res->index = p->ast->index;
   res->bit_offset = p->ast->bit_offset;
+  res->bit_length = p->bit_length;
 
   return res;
 }
diff --git a/src/parsers/token.c b/src/parsers/token.c
index 19029726ad11a52fa0eadf62b67a7b15cd2e4744..b589d58c60e39bb895395a2eedb48984a0b8669f 100644
--- a/src/parsers/token.c
+++ b/src/parsers/token.c
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ static HParseResult* parse_token(void *env, HParseState *state) {
   }
   HParsedToken *tok = a_new(HParsedToken, 1);
   tok->token_type = TT_BYTES; tok->bytes.token = t->str; tok->bytes.len = t->len;
+  tok->index = 0;
+  tok->bit_offset = 0;
+  tok->bit_length = 0;
   return make_result(state->arena, tok);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/t_parser.c b/src/t_parser.c
index cb67901ed9227787d5580079112c410df000dd94..2d933ef1d3a025fd15fa8a1e247dc8ced3ba63ea 100644
--- a/src/t_parser.c
+++ b/src/t_parser.c
@@ -205,12 +205,12 @@ HParsedToken* upcase(const HParseResult *p, void* user_data) {
   switch(p->ast->token_type) {
   case TT_SEQUENCE:
     {
-      HParsedToken *ret = a_new_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
+      HParsedToken *ret = a_new0_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
       HCountedArray *seq = h_carray_new_sized(p->arena, p->ast->seq->used);
       ret->token_type = TT_SEQUENCE;
       for (size_t i=0; i<p->ast->seq->used; ++i) {
 	if (TT_UINT == ((HParsedToken*)p->ast->seq->elements[i])->token_type) {
-	  HParsedToken *tmp = a_new_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
+	  HParsedToken *tmp = a_new0_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
 	  tmp->token_type = TT_UINT;
 	  tmp->uint = toupper(((HParsedToken*)p->ast->seq->elements[i])->uint);
 	  h_carray_append(seq, tmp);
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ HParsedToken* upcase(const HParseResult *p, void* user_data) {
     }
   case TT_UINT:
     {
-      HParsedToken *ret = a_new_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
+      HParsedToken *ret = a_new0_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
       ret->token_type = TT_UINT;
       ret->uint = toupper(p->ast->uint);
       return ret;
@@ -674,7 +674,7 @@ static void test_endianness(gconstpointer backend) {
 }
 
 HParsedToken* act_get(const HParseResult *p, void* user_data) {
-  HParsedToken *ret = a_new_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
+  HParsedToken *ret = a_new0_(p->arena, HParsedToken, 1);
   ret->token_type = TT_UINT;
   ret->uint = 3 * (1 << p->ast->uint);
   return ret;