diff --git a/src/hwylterm/hwylcli.nim b/src/hwylterm/hwylcli.nim
index 95f66c2..4fb2caa 100644
--- a/src/hwylterm/hwylcli.nim
+++ b/src/hwylterm/hwylcli.nim
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ func hwylCliImpl(cfg: CliCfg): NimNode =
 
   # should this a CritBitTree?
   parserBody.add quote do:
-    var `flagSet`: HashSet[string]
+    var `flagSet` {.used.}: HashSet[string]
 
   parserBody.add(
     quote do: