diff --git a/src/evaluation/MacroAnalysis.jl b/src/evaluation/MacroAnalysis.jl
index cd7a6e2352..44e9e96936 100644
--- a/src/evaluation/MacroAnalysis.jl
+++ b/src/evaluation/MacroAnalysis.jl
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ function resolve_topology(
 	sn = (session, notebook)
 
 	function macroexpand_cell(cell)
-		try_macroexpand(module_name::Symbol=Symbol("")) = begin
+		function try_macroexpand(module_name::Symbol=Symbol(""))
 			success, result = macroexpand_in_workspace(sn, unresolved_topology.codes[cell].parsedcode, cell.cell_id, module_name)
 			if success
 				Success(result)
diff --git a/src/evaluation/WorkspaceManager.jl b/src/evaluation/WorkspaceManager.jl
index 3308fbf7e8..dfa29486d9 100644
--- a/src/evaluation/WorkspaceManager.jl
+++ b/src/evaluation/WorkspaceManager.jl
@@ -523,8 +523,10 @@ function macroexpand_in_workspace(session_notebook::SN, macrocall, cell_id, modu
             # We have to be careful here, for example a thrown `MethodError()` will contain the called method and arguments.
             # which normally would be very useful for debugging, but we can't serialize it!
             # So we make sure we only serialize the exception we know about, and string-ify the others.
-            if (error isa LoadError && error.error isa UndefVarError) || error isa UndefVarError
-                (false, error)
+            if error isa UndefVarError
+                (false, UndefVarError(error.var))
+            elseif error isa LoadError && error.error isa UndefVarError
+                (false, UndefVarError(error.error.var))
             else
                 (false, ErrorException(sprint(showerror, error)))
             end