diff --git a/src/ast.c b/src/ast.c
index 4799810c41550..87a6fd63d6ccf 100644
--- a/src/ast.c
+++ b/src/ast.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ STATIC_INLINE void jl_ast_context_list_delete(jl_ast_context_list_t *node)
 typedef struct _jl_ast_context_t {
     fl_context_t fl;
     fltype_t *jvtype;
+    fltype_t *jvscalartype;
 
     value_t true_sym;
     value_t false_sym;
@@ -215,6 +216,7 @@ static void jl_init_ast_ctx(jl_ast_context_t *ast_ctx)
     fl_applyn(fl_ctx, 0, symbol_value(symbol(fl_ctx, "__init_globals")));
 
     jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx)->jvtype = define_opaque_type(fl_ctx->jl_sym, sizeof(void*), NULL, NULL);
+    jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx)->jvscalartype = define_opaque_type(fl_ctx->jl_scalar_sym, sizeof(void*), NULL, NULL);
     assign_global_builtins(fl_ctx, julia_flisp_ast_ext);
     jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx)->true_sym = symbol(fl_ctx, "true");
     jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx)->false_sym = symbol(fl_ctx, "false");
@@ -506,8 +508,12 @@ static jl_value_t *scm_to_julia_(fl_context_t *fl_ctx, value_t e, int eo)
     if (iscprim(e) && cp_class((cprim_t*)ptr(e)) == fl_ctx->wchartype) {
         return jl_box32(jl_char_type, *(int32_t*)cp_data((cprim_t*)ptr(e)));
     }
-    if (iscvalue(e) && cv_class((cvalue_t*)ptr(e)) == jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx)->jvtype) {
-        return *(jl_value_t**)cv_data((cvalue_t*)ptr(e));
+    if (iscvalue(e)) {
+        fltype_t *cls = cv_class((cvalue_t*)ptr(e));
+        jl_ast_context_t *ctx = jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx);
+        if (cls == ctx->jvtype || cls == ctx->jvscalartype) {
+            return *(jl_value_t**)cv_data((cvalue_t*)ptr(e));
+        }
     }
     jl_error("malformed tree");
 
@@ -594,6 +600,14 @@ static value_t julia_to_scm_(fl_context_t *fl_ctx, jl_value_t *v)
         return julia_to_list2(fl_ctx, (jl_value_t*)newvar_sym, jl_fieldref(v,0));
     if (jl_is_long(v) && fits_fixnum(jl_unbox_long(v)))
         return fixnum(jl_unbox_long(v));
+    if (jl_subtype(v,(jl_value_t*)jl_number_type,1)) {
+        // mark scalars for compress-fuse optimization of broadcast fusion.
+        // TODO: once #16966 is fixed, include strings (etc.) here;
+        // (It's okay if we miss some types since this is just an optimization.)
+        value_t opaque = cvalue(fl_ctx, jl_ast_ctx(fl_ctx)->jvscalartype, sizeof(void*));
+        *(jl_value_t**)cv_data((cvalue_t*)ptr(opaque)) = v;
+        return opaque;
+    }
     if (jl_is_ssavalue(v))
         jl_error("SSAValue objects should not occur in an AST");
     if (jl_is_slot(v))
diff --git a/src/ast.scm b/src/ast.scm
index fc01cb05d35ff..54ece0578a8e4 100644
--- a/src/ast.scm
+++ b/src/ast.scm
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
         ((string? e) (print-to-string e))
         ((eq? e #t) "true")
         ((eq? e #f) "false")
-        ((eq? (typeof e) 'julia_value)
+        ((or (eq? (typeof e) 'julia_value) (eq? (typeof e) 'julia_scalar_value))
          (let ((s (string e)))
            (if (string.find s "#<julia: ")
                ;; successfully printed as a julia value
diff --git a/src/flisp/flisp.c b/src/flisp/flisp.c
index 4a75c3f6e3804..aa2eafb2c2391 100644
--- a/src/flisp/flisp.c
+++ b/src/flisp/flisp.c
@@ -2398,6 +2398,7 @@ static void lisp_init(fl_context_t *fl_ctx, size_t initial_heapsize)
 #endif
 
     fl_ctx->jl_sym = symbol(fl_ctx, "julia_value");
+    fl_ctx->jl_scalar_sym = symbol(fl_ctx, "julia_scalar_value");
 
     fl_ctx->the_empty_vector = tagptr(alloc_words(fl_ctx, 1), TAG_VECTOR);
     vector_setsize(fl_ctx->the_empty_vector, 0);
diff --git a/src/flisp/flisp.h b/src/flisp/flisp.h
index fea46e570ea5e..dfc1fe9cfa5be 100644
--- a/src/flisp/flisp.h
+++ b/src/flisp/flisp.h
@@ -476,6 +476,7 @@ struct _fl_context_t {
     value_t apply_func, apply_v, apply_e;
 
     value_t jl_sym;
+    value_t jl_scalar_sym;
     // persistent buffer (avoid repeated malloc/free)
     // for julia_extensions.c: normalize
     size_t jlbuflen;
diff --git a/src/flisp/print.c b/src/flisp/print.c
index d12cbf0f37338..1f5caafb31992 100644
--- a/src/flisp/print.c
+++ b/src/flisp/print.c
@@ -657,7 +657,7 @@ static void cvalue_printdata(fl_context_t *fl_ctx, ios_t *f, void *data,
 #endif
                 init = 1;
             }
-            if (jl_static_print != NULL && fl_ctx->jl_sym == type) {
+            if (jl_static_print != NULL && (fl_ctx->jl_sym == type || fl_ctx->jl_scalar_sym == type)) {
                 fl_ctx->HPOS += ios_printf(f, "#<julia: ");
                 fl_ctx->HPOS += jl_static_print(f, *(void**)data);
                 fl_ctx->HPOS += ios_printf(f, ">");
diff --git a/src/julia-syntax.scm b/src/julia-syntax.scm
index 0d14e75fd6327..b651c63299b9d 100644
--- a/src/julia-syntax.scm
+++ b/src/julia-syntax.scm
@@ -1679,7 +1679,8 @@
                                 new-fargs new-args (cons (cons (cadr farg) (cadr varfarg)) renames)
                                 varfarg vararg)
                             (error "multiple splatted args cannot be fused into a single broadcast"))))
-                   ((number? arg) ; inline numeric literals
+                   ((or (number? arg) ; inline numeric literals
+                        (eq? (typeof arg) 'julia_scalar_value)) ; & Julia scalars
                     (cf (cdr old-fargs) (cdr old-args)
                         new-fargs new-args
                         (cons (cons farg arg) renames)
diff --git a/test/broadcast.jl b/test/broadcast.jl
index dfbbeed1c8950..51ceaf0d3c611 100644
--- a/test/broadcast.jl
+++ b/test/broadcast.jl
@@ -288,6 +288,8 @@ let identity = error, x = [1,2,3]
     x .= 1 # make sure it goes to broadcast!(Base.identity, ...), not identity
     @test x == [1,1,1]
 end
+# See issue #18176:
+@test ((a,b,c) -> a+b+c).(1.0:2, 3, 4) == ((a,b,c) -> a+b+c).(1.0:2, 3.0, 4.0) == [8,9]
 
 # PR 16988
 @test Base.promote_op(+, Bool) === Int