diff --git a/plugins/axiomcode/hooks/direct.py b/plugins/axiomcode/hooks/direct.py
index 4857a2157..37eaf8d3e 100755
--- a/plugins/axiomcode/hooks/direct.py
+++ b/plugins/axiomcode/hooks/direct.py
@@ -68,11 +68,12 @@ def identifiers(pat):
             if COMMON.fullmatch(n) or re.fullmatch(r'[A-Z0-9_]+', n) or n in out:
                 continue          # a keyword or a CONSTANT_SHAPED word is not a callable's name
             # a plain lowercase word (`once`, `path`, `session`) is as likely prose or a flag as a name, unless THAT
-            # word is written as code: `locate\(`, `def locate`, `.locate`, `function render`. Code elsewhere in the
-            # pattern does not count: in `expr_child("client"` the name is expr_child, and client is a string.
+            # word is written as code: `locate\(`, `def locate`, `obj.locate(`, `function render`. Code elsewhere in the
+            # pattern does not count: in `expr_child("client"` the name is expr_child, and client is a string. A dot
+            # alone is not code either: `\.json` is an extension and `\.decl` a Datalog directive.
             if n.islower() and '_' not in n and not (
                     re.match(r'\\?\(', br[m.end():])
-                    or re.search(r'(\b(def|function|fn|func|void|class)\s+|\\?\.|::|->)$', br[:m.start()])):
+                    or re.search(r'(\b(def|function|fn|func|void|class)\s+|::|->)$', br[:m.start()])):
                 continue
             out.append(n)
     return out[:6]
diff --git a/tests/directive.py b/tests/directive.py
index 20462f5a1..7c572f168 100644
--- a/tests/directive.py
+++ b/tests/directive.py
@@ -121,6 +121,14 @@ def check(why, cond, detail=''):
     check('CONTROL: a name declared in more than a handful of places says nothing about which one, and is not named',
           rc == 0 and out == '', f'out={out[:120]}')
 
+    rc, out, _ = fire(repo, 'Grep', {'pattern': r'^\.work ref|\.work\b'}, session='s3')
+    check('CONTROL: a lowercase word behind a dot alone (`\\.json`, a Datalog `.decl`) is an extension or a directive, not named',
+          rc == 0 and out == '', f'out={out[:120]}')
+
+    rc, out, _ = fire(repo, 'Grep', {'pattern': r'\.work\('}, session='s10')
+    check('the same word called behind a dot (`.work(`) is a name, and is told',
+          rc == 0 and ctx(out) and 'src/util.py:1' in ctx(out), f'out={out[:200]}')
+
     rc, out, _ = fire(repo, 'Grep', {'pattern': 'def render(', 'path': 'lib'}, session='s9')
     check('the declaration inside the searched path is the one named, not the first in the repository',
           rc == 0 and ctx(out) and 'lib/view.py:5' in ctx(out) and 'src/' not in ctx(out), f'out={out[:200]}')