diff --git a/tools/qfcc/source/expr_unary.c b/tools/qfcc/source/expr_unary.c
index 5103d4bac..f1ec48ca6 100644
--- a/tools/qfcc/source/expr_unary.c
+++ b/tools/qfcc/source/expr_unary.c
@@ -485,6 +485,12 @@ unary_expr (int op, const expr_t *e)
 		// unary + is a no-op
 		return e;
 	}
+	if (op == '=') {
+		// unary = is a marker for special handling by the back-end
+		auto new = new_unary_expr (op, e);
+		new->expr.type = get_type (e);
+		return edag_add_expr (new);
+	}
 	if (is_algebra (t)) {
 		unary_type = algebra_u;
 	} else if (is_enum (t)) {
diff --git a/tools/qfcc/source/glsl-builtins.c b/tools/qfcc/source/glsl-builtins.c
index 1053c5f47..969173d2c 100644
--- a/tools/qfcc/source/glsl-builtins.c
+++ b/tools/qfcc/source/glsl-builtins.c
@@ -849,17 +849,17 @@ SRC_LINE
 "         gsamplerCAS=[__sampler(,Cube,,Array,Shadow)]) {"          "\n"
 "gvec4 texture(gsampler sampler, gtex_coord P)"                     "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleExplicitLod)                              "\n"
-	"[sampler, P, ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                           "\n"
+	"[sampler, P, =ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                          "\n"
 "float texture(gsamplerSh sampler, gshadow_coord P)"                "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleDrefExplicitLod)                          "\n"
 	"[sampler, [gsamplerSh shadow_coord(P)], [gsamplerSh comp(P)]," "\n"
-	" ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                                       "\n"
+	" =ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                                      "\n"
 "float texture(gsamplerCAS sampler, vec4 P, float comp)"            "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleDrefExplicitLod) "[sampler, P, comp,"     "\n"
-	" ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                                       "\n"
+	" =ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                                      "\n"
 "gvec4 textureProj(gsampler sampler, gproj_coord P)"                "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleProjExplicitLod)                          "\n"
-	"[sampler, P, ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                           "\n"
+	"[sampler, P, =ImageOperands.Lod, 0];"                          "\n"
 "};"                                                                "\n"
 "#undef __sampler"                                                  "\n"
 "#undef _sampler"                                                   "\n"
@@ -890,21 +890,21 @@ SRC_LINE
 "         gsamplerCAS=[__sampler(,Cube,,Array,Shadow)]) {"          "\n"
 "gvec4 texture(gsampler sampler, gtex_coord P, float bias)"         "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleImplicitLod)                              "\n"
-	"[sampler, P, ImageOperands.Bias, bias];"                       "\n"
+	"[sampler, P, =ImageOperands.Bias, bias];"                      "\n"
 "gvec4 texture(gsampler sampler, gtex_coord P)"                     "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleImplicitLod) "[sampler, P];"              "\n"
 "float texture(gsamplerSh sampler, gshadow_coord P, float bias)"    "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleDrefImplicitLod)                          "\n"
 	"[sampler, [gsamplerSh shadow_coord(P)], [gsamplerSh comp(P)]," "\n"
-	" ImageOperands.Bias, bias];"                                   "\n"
+	" =ImageOperands.Bias, bias];"                                  "\n"
 "float texture(gsamplerSh sampler, gshadow_coord P)"                "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleDrefImplicitLod)                          "\n"
-	"[sampler, [gsamplerSh shadow_coord(P)], [gsamplerSh comp(P)]];" "\n"
+	"[sampler, [gsamplerSh shadow_coord(P)], [gsamplerSh comp(P)]];""\n"
 "float texture(gsamplerCAS sampler, vec4 P, float comp)"            "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleDrefImplicitLod) "[sampler, P, comp];"    "\n"
 "gvec4 textureProj(gsampler sampler, gproj_coord P, float bias)"    "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleProjImplicitLod)                          "\n"
-	"[sampler, P, ImageOperands.Bias, bias];" "\n"
+	"[sampler, P, =ImageOperands.Bias, bias];"                      "\n"
 "gvec4 textureProj(gsampler sampler, gproj_coord P)"                "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageSampleProjImplicitLod) "[sampler, P];"          "\n"
 "};"                                                                "\n"
@@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ SRC_LINE
 "         gsamplerMS=[_sampler(2D,MS,,),"                           "\n"
 "                     _sampler(2D,MS,Array,)]) {"                   "\n"
 "gvec4 texelFetch(gsampler sampler, gtex_coord P, int lod)"         "\n"
-	"= " SPV(OpImageFetch) "[sampler, P, ImageOperands.Lod, lod];"  "\n"
+	"= " SPV(OpImageFetch) "[sampler, P, =ImageOperands.Lod, lod];" "\n"
 "gvec4B texelFetch(gsamplerB sampler, int P)"                       "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageFetch) "[sampler, P];"                          "\n"
 "gvec4MS texelFetch(gsamplerMS sampler, ivec2 P, int sample)"       "\n"
@@ -964,7 +964,7 @@ SRC_LINE
 "         gtextureMS=[_texture(2D,MS,,),"                           "\n"
 "                     _texture(2D,MS,Array,)]) {"                   "\n"
 "gvec4 texelFetch(gtexture texture, gtex_coord P, int lod)"         "\n"
-	"= " SPV(OpImageFetch) "[texture, P, ImageOperands.Lod, lod];"  "\n"
+	"= " SPV(OpImageFetch) "[texture, P, =ImageOperands.Lod, lod];" "\n"
 "gvec4B texelFetch(gtextureB texture, int P)"                       "\n"
 	"= " SPV(OpImageFetch) "[texture, P];"                          "\n"
 "gvec4MS texelFetch(gtextureMS texture, ivec2 P, int sample)"       "\n"
diff --git a/tools/qfcc/source/qc-parse.y b/tools/qfcc/source/qc-parse.y
index d3c4f30ce..efad7d82d 100644
--- a/tools/qfcc/source/qc-parse.y
+++ b/tools/qfcc/source/qc-parse.y
@@ -2132,6 +2132,7 @@ unary_expr
 	| '~' cast_expr %prec UNARY	{ $$ = new_unary_expr ('~', $2); }
 	| '&' cast_expr %prec UNARY	{ $$ = new_unary_expr ('&', $2); }
 	| '*' cast_expr %prec UNARY	{ $$ = new_unary_expr ('.', $2); }
+	| '=' cast_expr %prec UNARY { $$ = new_unary_expr ('=', $2); }
 	| SIZEOF unary_expr	%prec UNARY	{ $$ = new_unary_expr ('S', $2); }
 	| SIZEOF '(' typename ')'	%prec HYPERUNARY
 		{
diff --git a/tools/qfcc/source/target_spirv.c b/tools/qfcc/source/target_spirv.c
index dfe47585d..f8d4aee64 100644
--- a/tools/qfcc/source/target_spirv.c
+++ b/tools/qfcc/source/target_spirv.c
@@ -1080,6 +1080,14 @@ spirv_uexpr (const expr_t *e, spirvctx_t *ctx)
 	if (e->expr.op == 'C') {
 		return spirv_cast (e, ctx);
 	}
+	if (e->expr.op == '=') {
+		auto val = e->expr.e1;
+		if (!is_integral_val (val)) {
+			error (val, "not a constant integer");
+			return 0;
+		}
+		return expr_integral (val);
+	}
 	auto op_name = convert_op (e->expr.op);
 	if (!op_name) {
 		if (e->expr.op > 32 && e->expr.op < 127) {