diff --git a/core/alloc.py b/core/alloc.py
index f8d3b7f33c..3858ebf166 100644
--- a/core/alloc.py
+++ b/core/alloc.py
@@ -119,21 +119,25 @@ def GetCodeString(self, lbrace_spid, rbrace_spid):
     right_id = right_span.line_id
     assert left_id <= right_id
 
-    left_col = left_span.col
+    left_col = left_span.col  # 0-based indices
     right_col = right_span.col
 
     parts = []
+    parts.append(' ' * (left_col+1))  # pad with spaces so column numbers are the same
 
-    # first incomplete line
-    parts.append(' ' * left_col)  # pad with spaces so column numbers are the same
-    parts.append(self.line_vals[left_id][left_col+1:])
+    if left_id == right_id:
+      # the single line
+      parts.append(self.line_vals[left_id][left_col+1:right_col])
+    else:
+      # first incomplete line
+      parts.append(self.line_vals[left_id][left_col+1:])
 
-    # all the complete lines
-    for line_id in xrange(left_id + 1, right_id):
-      parts.append(self.line_vals[line_id])
+      # all the complete lines
+      for line_id in xrange(left_id + 1, right_id):
+        parts.append(self.line_vals[line_id])
 
-    # last incomplete line
-    parts.append(self.line_vals[right_id][:right_col])
+      # last incomplete line
+      parts.append(self.line_vals[right_id][:right_col])
 
     return ''.join(parts)
 
diff --git a/osh/builtin_pure.py b/osh/builtin_pure.py
index f153da1029..41ae127e3f 100644
--- a/osh/builtin_pure.py
+++ b/osh/builtin_pure.py
@@ -813,8 +813,9 @@ def Run(self, cmd_val):
             src = self.arena.GetLineSource(line_span.line_id)
             line_num = self.arena.GetLineNumber(line_span.line_id)
 
-            result['location_file'] = ui.GetLineSourceString(self.arena,
-                                                             line_span.line_id)
+            # for the user to pass back to --location-str
+            result['location_str'] = ui.GetLineSourceString(self.arena,
+                                                            line_span.line_id)
             result['location_start_line'] = line_num
 
             # Between { and }
diff --git a/spec/hay.test.sh b/spec/hay.test.sh
index 3558291d22..d4dbd2705b 100644
--- a/spec/hay.test.sh
+++ b/spec/hay.test.sh
@@ -197,13 +197,38 @@ shopt --set parse_brace parse_equals
 hay define TASK
 
 hay eval :result {
-  TASK build {
-    echo hi
+  TASK { echo hi }
+
+  TASK {
+    echo one
+    echo two
   }
 }
 
 #= result
-json write (result)
+json write (result) | jq . > out.txt
+
+diff -u - out.txt <<'EOF'
+{
+  "source": null,
+  "children": [
+    {
+      "type": "TASK",
+      "args": [],
+      "location_str": "[ stdin ]",
+      "location_start_line": 6,
+      "code_str": "         echo hi "
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "TASK",
+      "args": [],
+      "location_str": "[ stdin ]",
+      "location_start_line": 8,
+      "code_str": "        \n    echo one\n    echo two\n  "
+    }
+  ]
+}
+EOF
 
 ## STDOUT:
 ## END
diff --git a/test/spec.sh b/test/spec.sh
index 10971bd0f9..9f70b75895 100755
--- a/test/spec.sh
+++ b/test/spec.sh
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ oil-blocks() {
 }
 
 hay() {
-  sh-spec spec/hay.test.sh --osh-failures-allowed 10 \
+  sh-spec spec/hay.test.sh --osh-failures-allowed 9 \
     $OSH_LIST "$@"
 }