diff --git a/builtin.cpp b/builtin.cpp
index b84d78e73..6e669e697 100644
--- a/builtin.cpp
+++ b/builtin.cpp
@@ -3976,8 +3976,7 @@ int builtin_parse(parser_t &parser, wchar_t **argv)
         const wcstring src = str2wcstring(&txt.at(0), txt.size());
         parse_node_tree_t parse_tree;
         parse_error_list_t errors;
-        parse_t parser;
-        bool success = parser.parse(src, parse_flag_none, &parse_tree, &errors, true);
+        bool success = parse_t::parse(src, parse_flag_none, &parse_tree, &errors, true);
         if (! success)
         {
             stdout_buffer.append(L"Parsing failed:\n");
diff --git a/fish_tests.cpp b/fish_tests.cpp
index 40a8d7db4..0cd7dbf08 100644
--- a/fish_tests.cpp
+++ b/fish_tests.cpp
@@ -1845,8 +1845,7 @@ static void test_new_parser_correctness(void)
         const parser_test_t *test = &parser_tests[i];
 
         parse_node_tree_t parse_tree;
-        parse_t parser;
-        bool success = parser.parse(test->src, parse_flag_none, &parse_tree, NULL);
+        bool success = parse_t::parse(test->src, parse_flag_none, &parse_tree, NULL);
         say(L"%lu / %lu: Parse \"%ls\": %s", i+1, sizeof parser_tests / sizeof *parser_tests, test->src, success ? "yes" : "no");
         if (success && ! test->ok)
         {
@@ -1954,8 +1953,7 @@ static bool test_1_parse_ll2(const wcstring &src, wcstring *out_cmd, wcstring *o
     
     bool result = false;
     parse_node_tree_t tree;
-    parse_t parser;
-    if (parser.parse(src, parse_flag_none, &tree, NULL))
+    if (parse_t::parse(src, parse_flag_none, &tree, NULL))
     {
         /* Get the statement. Should only have one */
         const parse_node_tree_t::parse_node_list_t stmt_nodes = tree.find_nodes(tree.at(0), symbol_plain_statement);
@@ -2030,8 +2028,7 @@ static void test_new_parser(void)
     say(L"Testing new parser");
     const wcstring src = L"echo hello world";
     parse_node_tree_t parse_tree;
-    parse_t parser;
-    bool success = parser.parse(src, parse_flag_none, &parse_tree, NULL);
+    bool success = parse_t::parse(src, parse_flag_none, &parse_tree, NULL);
     if (! success)
     {
         say(L"Parsing failed");
diff --git a/parse_tree.cpp b/parse_tree.cpp
index 2066b8246..a1acdb13b 100644
--- a/parse_tree.cpp
+++ b/parse_tree.cpp
@@ -827,7 +827,7 @@ static inline parse_token_t next_parse_token(tokenizer_t *tok)
     return result;
 }
 
-bool parse_t::parse(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t parse_flags, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors, bool log_it)
+bool parse_t::parse_internal(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t parse_flags, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors, bool log_it)
 {
     this->parser->set_should_generate_error_messages(errors != NULL);
 
@@ -889,6 +889,12 @@ bool parse_t::parse(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t parse_flags, parse_n
     return ! this->parser->has_fatal_error();
 }
 
+bool parse_t::parse(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t flags, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors, bool log_it)
+{
+    parse_t parse;
+    return parse.parse_internal(str, flags, output, errors, log_it);
+}
+
 bool parse_t::parse_1_token(parse_token_type_t token_type, parse_keyword_t keyword, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors)
 {
     const parse_token_t invalid_token = {token_type_invalid, parse_keyword_none, -1, -1};
diff --git a/parse_tree.h b/parse_tree.h
index 941ddd4e2..f6e913c25 100644
--- a/parse_tree.h
+++ b/parse_tree.h
@@ -141,12 +141,14 @@ class parse_t
 {
     parse_ll_t * const parser;
 
+    bool parse_internal(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t flags, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors, bool log_it = false);
+
 public:
     parse_t();
     ~parse_t();
 
-    /* Parse a string */
-    bool parse(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t flags, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors, bool log_it = false);
+    /* Parse a string all at once */
+    static bool parse(const wcstring &str, parse_tree_flags_t flags, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors, bool log_it = false);
 
     /* Parse a single token */
     bool parse_1_token(parse_token_type_t token, parse_keyword_t keyword, parse_node_tree_t *output, parse_error_list_t *errors);
diff --git a/reader.cpp b/reader.cpp
index 0f022c279..b59f8086c 100644
--- a/reader.cpp
+++ b/reader.cpp
@@ -664,8 +664,7 @@ bool reader_expand_abbreviation_in_command(const wcstring &cmdline, size_t curso
     
     /* Parse this subcmd */
     parse_node_tree_t parse_tree;
-    parse_t parser;
-    parser.parse(subcmd, parse_flag_continue_after_error | parse_flag_accept_incomplete_tokens, &parse_tree, NULL);
+    parse_t::parse(subcmd, parse_flag_continue_after_error | parse_flag_accept_incomplete_tokens, &parse_tree, NULL);
     
     /* Look for plain statements where the cursor is at the end of the command */
     const parse_node_t *matching_cmd_node = NULL;