diff --git a/compiler/icnif/nifdecoder.nim b/compiler/icnif/nifdecoder.nim
index 03b008690c..0203b6e37d 100644
--- a/compiler/icnif/nifdecoder.nim
+++ b/compiler/icnif/nifdecoder.nim
@@ -266,11 +266,14 @@ proc fromNif(c: var DecodeContext; n: var Cursor): PNode =
       result.flags = flags
       skipParRi n
     of nkIdent:
-      inc n
+      let info = c.fromNifLineInfo(n)
+      incExpect n, {DotToken, Ident}
+      let flags = fromNifNodeFlags n
       let typ = c.fromNifType n
       expect n, Ident
-      result = newIdentNode(c.graph.cache.getIdent(pool.strings[n.litId]), c.fromNifLineInfo(n))
+      result = newIdentNode(c.graph.cache.getIdent(pool.strings[n.litId]), info)
       inc n
+      result.flags = flags
       result.typ = typ
       skipParRi n
     of nkSym:
diff --git a/compiler/icnif/nifencoder.nim b/compiler/icnif/nifencoder.nim
index 6c5b0686e4..78e9951f70 100644
--- a/compiler/icnif/nifencoder.nim
+++ b/compiler/icnif/nifencoder.nim
@@ -147,11 +147,9 @@ proc toNif(c: var EncodeContext; n: PNode) =
       c.dest.writeNodeFlags(n.flags)
       c.dest.addParRi
     of nkIdent:
-      let info = c.toNif n.info
-      c.dest.addParLe pool.tags.getOrIncl(toNifTag(nkIdent)), info
-      c.toNif n.typ
-      c.dest.addIdent n.ident.s
-      c.dest.addParRi
+      # nkIdent uses flags and typ when it is a generic parameter
+      c.withNode n:
+        c.dest.addIdent n.ident.s
     of nkSym:
       when false:
         echo "nkSym: ", n.sym.name.s
diff --git a/tests/icnif/tencode_node2node.nim b/tests/icnif/tencode_node2node.nim
index a6c183a928..6c6797352d 100644
--- a/tests/icnif/tencode_node2node.nim
+++ b/tests/icnif/tencode_node2node.nim
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ proc eql(x, y: PNode; c: var EqlContext): bool =
     echo "node kind mismatch: ", x.kind, "/", y.kind
     result = false
   elif x.flags != y.flags:
-    echo "node flag mismatch: ", x.flags, "/", y.flags
+    echo "node flag mismatch: ", x.flags, "/", y.flags, " at ", `$`(c.confX, x.info)
     debug(x)
     debug(y)
     result = false
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ proc testNifEncDec(graph: ModuleGraph; src: string) =
   let n2 = loadNifFromBuffer(nif, graphForLoad)
   #debug(n2)
   var c = EqlContext(confX: graph.config, confY: graphForLoad.config)
-  assert eql(n, n2, c)
+  assert eql(n, n2, c), "test failed: " & $fullPath
 
 var conf = newConfigRefForTest()
 var cache = newIdentCache()