diff --git a/docs/about/changelog.md b/docs/about/changelog.md
index ced4856f77..0ab501d2e0 100644
--- a/docs/about/changelog.md
+++ b/docs/about/changelog.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ priorities and future plans.
 
 ## Work in progress
 
+- Run MakeMaker `MY::post_initialize` hooks so generated files join `pm_to_blib`, and parse Perl's `$]` version variable.
+
 - Preserve hash-reference constant calls after typeglob undefinition, dereference glob-backed hash values during Morpheus configuration traversal, parse Error.pm's dynamic `catch $class with { ... }` form on both backends, and retain integer scalar identity through `int()` for decimal stringification; preserve regex referent types through blessed scalar references and cover Morpheus relational overload dispatch and caller filename normalization (#1342, #1376, #1427, #1428).
 - Implement `Time::HiRes::stat` with high-resolution file timestamps (#1912).
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/IdentifierParser.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/IdentifierParser.java
index 4ffd58a155..496edf7c50 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/IdentifierParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/IdentifierParser.java
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ public static String parseComplexIdentifierInner(Parser parser, boolean insideBr
 
         // Special case for special variables like `$|`, `$'`, `$(`, `$)`, etc.
         char firstChar = token.text.charAt(0);
-        if (token.type == LexerTokenType.OPERATOR && "!|/*+-<>&~.=%'?()".indexOf(firstChar) >= 0) {
+        if (token.type == LexerTokenType.OPERATOR && "!|/*+-<>&~.=%'?()]".indexOf(firstChar) >= 0) {
             // Special case: * followed by { is glob dereference when inside braces
             // @{*{expr}} should be parsed as @{ *{expr} }, not @*{expr} (hash slice on @*)
             // But @*{key} outside braces IS a hash slice on @*, so only apply when insideBraces
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/StatementResolver.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/StatementResolver.java
index 46147946c8..0c38100b7b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/StatementResolver.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/StatementResolver.java
@@ -1693,7 +1693,8 @@ public static boolean isHashLiteral(Parser parser) {
                         // If we've already seen a fat-comma hash indicator at depth 1,
                         // keep preferring hash interpretation. This avoids false block
                         // classification when keyword-like words leak from quoted payload.
-                        if (!hasHashIndicator && !nextToken.text.equals("=>") && !nextToken.text.equals(",")) {
+                        if ((!hasHashIndicator || nextToken.text.equals("("))
+                                && !nextToken.text.equals("=>") && !nextToken.text.equals(",")) {
                             // Statement modifier - definitive block indicator
                             if (CompilerOptions.DEBUG_ENABLED) parser.ctx.logDebug("isHashLiteral found statement modifier (block indicator)");
                             hasBlockIndicator = true;
diff --git a/src/main/perl/lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm b/src/main/perl/lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm
index 04e5ec4752..bf27e33f72 100644
--- a/src/main/perl/lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm
+++ b/src/main/perl/lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm
@@ -548,11 +548,24 @@ sub _install_pure_perl {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    # ExtUtils::MakeMaker subclasses use post_initialize to extend the
+    # initialized MakeMaker object, including its PM mapping.  Older pure-Perl
+    # distributions use this to add generated data files to the normal
+    # pm_to_blib staging pass (for example, Lingua::ZH::Romanize::Pinyin).
+    # Run the hook after discovering the default mapping and before deciding
+    # whether the distribution has installable files.
+    my $mm = PerlOnJava::MM::Installed->new($args);
+    $mm->{PM} = { %pm };
+    $mm->{clean} = {};
+    if (defined &MY::post_initialize) {
+        $mm->{post_initialize} = MY::post_initialize($mm) // '';
+        %pm = %{$mm->{PM}} if ref $mm->{PM} eq 'HASH';
+    }
     
     if (!%pm) {
         print "Warning: No installable files found (no .pm, .pl, .dat, etc.).\n";
         print "Expected structure: lib/Your/Module.pm\n\n";
-        my $mm = PerlOnJava::MM::Installed->new($args);
         _create_mymeta($name, $version, $args);
         _create_install_makefile($name, $version, $args, {}, {}, $mm);
         _create_build_script_proxy() if -f 'Build.PL';
@@ -635,8 +648,6 @@ sub _install_pure_perl {
     print "\n";
     
     # Create MM object first (needed by postamble)
-    my $mm = PerlOnJava::MM::Installed->new($args);
-    
     # Create MYMETA.yml for CPAN.pm dependency resolution
     _create_mymeta($name, $version, $args);
     
@@ -1091,6 +1102,9 @@ sub _create_install_makefile {
     my $depend_rules_str = _make_depend_rules($args->{depend});
     
     my $makefile_comments = _make_makefile_comments($args, $distname, $version);
+    my $post_initialize = $mm->{post_initialize} || '';
+    $post_initialize .= "\n" if length($post_initialize)
+        && $post_initialize !~ /\n\z/;
 
     # Honor user-supplied `macro => { ... }` from WriteMakefile by emitting
     # extra Makefile macro definitions.  LaTeXML and others stuff custom
@@ -1113,6 +1127,7 @@ sub _create_install_makefile {
 # This matches standard ExtUtils::MakeMaker semantics so that 'cpan -t'
 # (test only) does not install, while 'cpan -i' (install) does.
 $makefile_comments
+$post_initialize
 NAME = $name
 DISTNAME = $distname
 VERSION = $version
diff --git a/src/test/resources/unit/makemaker_post_initialize_generated_pm.t b/src/test/resources/unit/makemaker_post_initialize_generated_pm.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0814dc76ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/unit/makemaker_post_initialize_generated_pm.t
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use Test::More tests => 4;
+use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
+use Cwd qw(getcwd);
+
+my $dir = tempdir(CLEANUP => 1);
+my $cwd = getcwd();
+chdir $dir or die "chdir $dir: $!";
+
+mkdir 'lib' or die "mkdir lib: $!";
+mkdir 'lib/Fixture' or die "mkdir lib/Fixture: $!";
+open my $module, '>', 'lib/Fixture/Module.pm' or die $!;
+print {$module} "package Fixture::Module; 1;\n";
+close $module;
+open my $makefile_pl, '>', 'Makefile.PL' or die $!;
+print {$makefile_pl} "# generated test fixture\n";
+close $makefile_pl;
+
+{
+    package MY;
+    sub post_initialize {
+        my ($self) = @_;
+        $self->{clean}{FILES} = 'lib/Fixture/Generated.store';
+        $self->{PM}{'lib/Fixture/Generated.store'} = 'blib/lib/Fixture/Generated.store';
+        return '';
+    }
+    sub postamble {
+        return "\nlib/Fixture/Generated.store :\n\tprintf generated > lib/Fixture/Generated.store\n";
+    }
+}
+
+use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
+WriteMakefile(NAME => 'Fixture::Module', VERSION => '0.01');
+
+ok(!-e 'lib/Fixture/Generated.store', 'configure does not fabricate generated data');
+ok(-f 'Makefile', 'Makefile was generated');
+is(system($ENV{MAKE} || 'make', 'all'), 0, 'make runs the custom generated-file rule');
+ok(-f 'blib/lib/Fixture/Generated.store', 'pm_to_blib stages the generated file');
+
+chdir $cwd or die "chdir $cwd: $!";
diff --git a/src/test/resources/unit/special_version_variable.t b/src/test/resources/unit/special_version_variable.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de09edfe31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/unit/special_version_variable.t
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use Test::More;
+
+{
+    plan skip_all => 'Perl 5.8.1 or better is required to test this' unless ( $] >= 5.008001 );
+    plan tests => 2;
+    ok($] >= 5.008001, '$] supports the standard Perl version comparison');
+    my $supported = 1 unless ($] < 5.008001);
+    ok($supported, '$] parses in a parenthesized unless condition');
+}