diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/frontend/lowering/var-hoisting.test.ts b/packages/compiler/src/frontend/lowering/var-hoisting.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4173adf52a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/frontend/lowering/var-hoisting.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { expect, test, vi } from "vitest";
+import * as ast from "../ts7/ast.js";
+import * as ts from "../ts7/adapter.js";
+import { Ts7Host } from "../ts7/program-host.js";
+import { Ts7Api } from "../ts7/rpc-api.js";
+import { Lowerer } from "./lowerer.js";
+import { earlyReadVarSymbols } from "./var-hoisting.js";
+
+function fixture(source: string) {
+  const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "scriptc-hoisting-references-"));
+  const entry = join(directory, "main.cjs");
+  writeFileSync(entry, source);
+  const host = new Ts7Host((options) => new Ts7Api(options), { cwd: directory });
+  const program = host.createProgram([entry], {
+    noLib: true,
+    types: [],
+    strict: true,
+    allowJs: true,
+    checkJs: true,
+  });
+  const file = program.getSourceFile(entry)!;
+  const lowerer = new Lowerer(program, file, [file]);
+  const analyze = () => earlyReadVarSymbols(lowerer, [file]);
+  const early = () => {
+    const result = analyze();
+    const names: string[] = [];
+    ts.walkPreorder(file, (node) => {
+      if (ts.isVariableDeclaration(node) && ts.isIdentifier(node.name)) {
+        const symbol = lowerer.checker.getSymbolAtLocation(node.name);
+        if (symbol !== undefined && result.has(symbol)) names.push(node.name.text);
+      }
+    });
+    return names;
+  };
+  return {
+    file,
+    analyze,
+    early,
+    dispose() {
+      program.dispose();
+      host.close();
+      rmSync(directory, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+test("whole-file reference scans do not grow with the number of functions", () => {
+  const fixtures = [12, 48].map((count) =>
+    fixture(
+      "var value = 7;\nfunction f0() { return value; }\n" +
+        Array.from({ length: count }, (_, i) => `function f${i + 1}() { return f${i}(); }\n`).join(
+          "",
+        ) +
+        `f${count}();\n`,
+    ),
+  );
+  const walk = vi.spyOn(ast, "walkPreorder");
+  try {
+    const scans = fixtures.map((f) => {
+      walk.mockClear();
+      expect(f.analyze().size).toBe(0);
+      return walk.mock.calls.filter(([node]) => node === f.file).length;
+    });
+    expect(scans[0]).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    expect(scans[1]).toBe(scans[0]);
+  } finally {
+    walk.mockRestore();
+    for (const f of fixtures) f.dispose();
+  }
+});
+
+test("reference indexing preserves shadowed function names and early calls", () => {
+  const f = fixture(`
+function read() { return late; }
+read();
+var late = 7;
+var settled = 8;
+function holder() {
+  function read() { return settled; }
+  return read();
+}
+holder();
+`);
+  try {
+    expect(f.early()).toEqual(["late"]);
+  } finally {
+    f.dispose();
+  }
+});
+
+test("reference indexes belong to each immutable source file snapshot", () => {
+  const before = fixture("var value = 7; function read() { return value; } read();\n");
+  const after = fixture("read(); var value = 7; function read() { return value; }\n");
+  try {
+    expect(before.early()).toEqual([]);
+    expect(after.early()).toEqual(["value"]);
+    expect(before.early()).toEqual([]);
+  } finally {
+    before.dispose();
+    after.dispose();
+  }
+});
+
+test("duplicate declarations and shorthand references retain symbol identity", () => {
+  const duplicate = fixture(`
+function read() { return first; }
+function read() { return second; }
+read();
+var first = 7;
+var second = 8;
+`);
+  const shorthand = fixture(`
+var object = { read };
+object.read();
+var value = 7;
+function read() { return value; }
+`);
+  try {
+    expect(duplicate.early()).toEqual(["first", "second"]);
+    expect(shorthand.early()).toEqual(["value"]);
+  } finally {
+    duplicate.dispose();
+    shorthand.dispose();
+  }
+});