diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx.el
index d4a91710273..aa4b2addd47 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx.el
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ Each entry is:
                 (if (cdr def)
                     (error "Not an `rx' symbol definition: %s" form)
                   (car def)))))
-        ((consp form)
+        ((and (consp form) (symbolp (car form)))
          (let* ((op (car form))
                 (def (rx--lookup-def op)))
            (and def
diff --git a/test/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx-tests.el b/test/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx-tests.el
index 4888e1d9d1e..0fece4004bd 100644
--- a/test/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx-tests.el
+++ b/test/lisp/emacs-lisp/rx-tests.el
@@ -316,7 +316,9 @@
   (should (equal (rx (not (or (in "abc") (char "bcd"))))
                  "[^a-d]"))
   (should (equal (rx (or (not (in "abc")) (not (char "bcd"))))
-                 "[^bc]")))
+                 "[^bc]"))
+  (should (equal (rx (or "x" (? "yz")))
+                 "x\\|\\(?:yz\\)?")))
 
 (ert-deftest rx-def-in-charset-or ()
   (rx-let ((a (any "badc"))