diff --git a/compiler/src/compile.rs b/compiler/src/compile.rs
index b1b5f62bb..403b1487d 100644
--- a/compiler/src/compile.rs
+++ b/compiler/src/compile.rs
@@ -848,7 +848,9 @@ impl<O: OutputStream> Compiler<O> {
 
         // Emit None at end:
         match body.last().map(|s| &s.node) {
-            Some(ast::StatementType::Return { .. }) => {}
+            Some(ast::StatementType::Return { .. }) => {
+                // the last instruction is a ReturnValue already, we don't need to emit it
+            }
             _ => {
                 self.emit(Instruction::LoadConst {
                     value: bytecode::Constant::None,
diff --git a/compiler/src/peephole.rs b/compiler/src/peephole.rs
index 2eff20c70..3a64380bd 100644
--- a/compiler/src/peephole.rs
+++ b/compiler/src/peephole.rs
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ impl<O: OutputStream> PeepholeOptimizer<O> {
     }
 
     fn optimize(&mut self) {
-        apply_optimizations!(self, operator, unpack, useless_const);
+        apply_optimizations!(self, operator, unpack);
     }
 }
 
@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ impl<O: OutputStream> OptimizationBuffer for PeepholeOptimizer<O> {
     }
 }
 
-// OPTIMIZATION
-
 pub trait OptimizationBuffer {
     fn emit(&mut self, instruction: Instruction, meta: InstructionMetadata);
     fn pop(&mut self) -> (Instruction, InstructionMetadata);
diff --git a/compiler/src/peephole/optimizations.rs b/compiler/src/peephole/optimizations.rs
index ee8f1f0d5..b0fb7531a 100644
--- a/compiler/src/peephole/optimizations.rs
+++ b/compiler/src/peephole/optimizations.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@ use rustpython_bytecode::bytecode::{self, Instruction};
 
 use super::{InstructionMetadata, OptimizationBuffer};
 
+macro_rules! metas {
+    [$($metas:expr),*$(,)?] => {
+        InstructionMetadata::from(vec![$($metas),*])
+    };
+}
 macro_rules! lc {
     ($name:ident {$($field:tt)*}) => {
         Instruction::LoadConst {
@@ -13,10 +18,10 @@ macro_rules! lc {
     };
 }
 macro_rules! emitconst {
-    ($buf:expr, [$($metas:expr),*], $($arg:tt)*) => {
+    ($buf:expr, [$($metas:expr),*$(,)?], $($arg:tt)*) => {
         $buf.emit(
             lc!($($arg)*),
-            InstructionMetadata::from(vec![$($metas),*]),
+            metas![$($metas),*],
         )
     };
 }
@@ -91,20 +96,3 @@ pub fn unpack(buf: &mut impl OptimizationBuffer) {
         buf.emit(instruction, meta)
     }
 }
-
-pub fn useless_const(buf: &mut impl OptimizationBuffer) {
-    let (instruction, meta) = buf.pop();
-    if instruction == Instruction::Pop {
-        let (arg, arg_meta) = buf.pop();
-        if let Instruction::LoadConst { .. } = arg {
-            // just ignore it all
-            drop(arg);
-            drop(instruction);
-        } else {
-            buf.emit(arg, arg_meta);
-            buf.emit(instruction, meta);
-        }
-    } else {
-        buf.emit(instruction, meta);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/tests/snippets/dismod.py b/tests/snippets/dismod.py
index 88282d3eb..e9951ef40 100644
--- a/tests/snippets/dismod.py
+++ b/tests/snippets/dismod.py
@@ -2,9 +2,19 @@ import dis
 
 dis.dis(compile("5 + x + 5 or 2", "", "eval"))
 print("\n")
-dis.dis(compile("def f(x):\n   return 1", "", "exec"))
+dis.dis(compile("""
+def f(x):
+    return 1
+""", "", "exec"))
 print("\n")
-dis.dis(compile("if a:\n 1 or 2\nelif x == 'hello':\n 3\nelse:\n 4", "", "exec"))
+dis.dis(compile("""
+if a:
+    1 or 2
+elif x == 'hello':
+    3
+else:
+    4
+""", "", "exec"))
 print("\n")
 dis.dis(compile("f(x=1, y=2)", "", "eval"))
 print("\n")