There are so many exceptions and interpretations to the "if it looks like a function" rule that it's almost more of a pain than a help. Just let it go. To your second comment, it knows that it's already a function but it doesn't matter -- it could also still be a filehandle. Remember you don't "predeclare" filehandles in any way. And Perl's kinda looking for a filehandle there anyway and your function name will suit just fine.