diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 291479df2d..aff4441c57 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 * Compiler: no longer rely on IIFE for scoping variable inside loops
 * Lib: add ellipse to canvasRenderingContext2D (@FayCarsons, #1555)
 
+## Bug fixes
+* Compiler: fix global dead code elimination in a toplevel context
+
 # 5.6.0 (2024-01-02) - Lille
 
 ## Features/Changes
diff --git a/compiler/lib/global_deadcode.ml b/compiler/lib/global_deadcode.ml
index bc8017d5d9..9af29d950e 100644
--- a/compiler/lib/global_deadcode.ml
+++ b/compiler/lib/global_deadcode.ml
@@ -246,6 +246,15 @@ let liveness prog pure_funs (global_info : Global_flow.info) =
     | Stop | Branch _ | Poptrap _ | Pushtrap _ -> ()
   in
   Addr.Map.iter (fun _ block -> live_block block) prog.blocks;
+  Code.traverse
+    { Code.fold = Code.fold_children }
+    (fun pc () ->
+      match Addr.Map.find pc prog.blocks with
+      | { branch = Return x, _; _ } -> add_top x
+      | _ -> ())
+    prog.start
+    prog.blocks
+    ();
   live_vars
 
 (* Returns the set of variables given a table of variables. *)
diff --git a/compiler/tests-toplevel/test_toplevel.reference b/compiler/tests-toplevel/test_toplevel.reference
index 1695687c25..58eb84ed85 100644
--- a/compiler/tests-toplevel/test_toplevel.reference
+++ b/compiler/tests-toplevel/test_toplevel.reference
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 hello
+- : int = 2
 Line 4, characters 2-4:
 Error: Syntax error
 Line 5, characters 0-16: