diff --git a/source/toy_interpreter.c b/source/toy_interpreter.c
index 1706000..f3f1280 100644
--- a/source/toy_interpreter.c
+++ b/source/toy_interpreter.c
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ static bool execArithmetic(Toy_Interpreter* interpreter, Toy_Opcode opcode) {
 	}
 
 	//special case for string concatenation ONLY
-	if (TOY_IS_STRING(lhs) && TOY_IS_STRING(rhs)) {
+	if (TOY_IS_STRING(lhs) && TOY_IS_STRING(rhs) && (opcode == TOY_OP_ADDITION || opcode == TOY_OP_VAR_ADDITION_ASSIGN)) {
 		//check for overflow
 		int totalLength = TOY_AS_STRING(lhs)->length + TOY_AS_STRING(rhs)->length;
 		if (totalLength > TOY_MAX_STRING_LENGTH) {
diff --git a/source/toy_parser.c b/source/toy_parser.c
index 974c9ff..a559da1 100644
--- a/source/toy_parser.c
+++ b/source/toy_parser.c
@@ -983,7 +983,7 @@ static bool calcStaticBinaryArithmetic(Toy_Parser* parser, Toy_ASTNode** nodeHan
 	Toy_Literal result = TOY_TO_NULL_LITERAL;
 
 	//special case for string concatenation ONLY
-	if (TOY_IS_STRING(lhs) && TOY_IS_STRING(rhs)) {
+	if (TOY_IS_STRING(lhs) && TOY_IS_STRING(rhs) && (*nodeHandle)->binary.opcode == TOY_OP_ADDITION) {
 		//check for overflow
 		int totalLength = TOY_AS_STRING(lhs)->length + TOY_AS_STRING(rhs)->length;
 		if (totalLength > TOY_MAX_STRING_LENGTH) {
diff --git a/test/scripts/arithmetic.toy b/test/scripts/arithmetic.toy
index a2ed656..27d0c4f 100644
--- a/test/scripts/arithmetic.toy
+++ b/test/scripts/arithmetic.toy
@@ -28,4 +28,15 @@ a %= 8;
 
 assert a == 4, "%= failed";
 
+//strings as special cases
+var s = "foo";
+
+assert s + "bar" == "foobar", "string addition failed";
+assert s == "foo", "string addition failed (was too sticky)";
+
+s += "bar";
+
+assert s == "foobar", "string addition failed (wasn't sticky enough)";
+
+
 print "All good";
\ No newline at end of file