diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/walk.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/walk.go
index 7d4c697e7d..3e67f50620 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/walk.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/walk.go
@@ -2718,8 +2718,8 @@ func addstr(n *Node, init **NodeList) *Node {
 	if n.Esc == EscNone {
 		sz := int64(0)
 		for l := n.List; l != nil; l = l.Next {
-			if n.Op == OLITERAL {
-				sz += int64(len(n.Val().U.(string)))
+			if l.N.Op == OLITERAL {
+				sz += int64(len(l.N.Val().U.(string)))
 			}
 		}