diff --git a/crates/core/src/model/find.rs b/crates/core/src/model/find.rs
index fb8051c29..d6c687359 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/model/find.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/model/find.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ use super::ValueView;
 pub struct Path<'s>(Vec<ScalarCow<'s>>);
 
 impl<'s> Path<'s> {
+    pub fn empty() -> Self {
+        Path(vec![])
+    }
+
     /// Create a `Value` reference.
     pub fn with_index<I: Into<ScalarCow<'s>>>(value: I) -> Self {
         let indexes = vec![value.into()];
diff --git a/crates/core/src/parser/grammar.pest b/crates/core/src/parser/grammar.pest
index ecc678495..2ad79b864 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/parser/grammar.pest
+++ b/crates/core/src/parser/grammar.pest
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ Raw = @{ (!(TagStart | ExpressionStart) ~ ANY)+ }
 // Inner parsing
 Identifier = @{ (ASCII_ALPHA | "_" | NON_WHITESPACE_CONTROL_HYPHEN) ~ (ASCII_ALPHANUMERIC | "_" | NON_WHITESPACE_CONTROL_HYPHEN)* }
 
-Variable = ${ Identifier
+// For root level hash access we'd need to accept that there might not be an Identifier preceding a hash access (the brackets with a value inside)
+Variable = ${ ( Identifier | ("[" ~ WHITESPACE* ~ Value ~ WHITESPACE* ~ "]") )
             ~ ( ("." ~ Identifier)
               | ("[" ~ WHITESPACE* ~ Value ~ WHITESPACE* ~ "]")
               )*
diff --git a/crates/core/src/parser/parser.rs b/crates/core/src/parser/parser.rs
index a1dbed61e..724027061 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/parser/parser.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/parser/parser.rs
@@ -142,11 +142,17 @@ fn parse_variable_pair(variable: Pair) -> Variable {
     let mut indexes = variable.into_inner();
 
     let first_identifier = indexes
-        .next()
-        .expect("A variable starts with an identifier.")
-        .as_str()
-        .to_owned();
-    let mut variable = Variable::with_literal(first_identifier);
+        .peek()
+        .expect("A variable starts with an identifier or an index");
+
+    let mut variable = match first_identifier.as_rule() {
+        Rule::Identifier => {
+            indexes.next();
+            Variable::with_literal(first_identifier.as_str().to_owned())
+        }
+        Rule::Value => Variable::empty(),
+        _ => unreachable!(),
+    };
 
     let indexes = indexes.map(|index| match index.as_rule() {
         Rule::Identifier => Expression::with_literal(index.as_str().to_owned()),
@@ -1153,6 +1159,38 @@ mod test {
         assert_eq!(parse_variable_pair(variable), expected);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_variable_pair_with_root_index_literals() {
+        let variable = LiquidParser::parse(Rule::Variable, "['bar']")
+            .unwrap()
+            .next()
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let indexes: Vec<Expression> = vec![Expression::Literal(Value::scalar("bar"))];
+
+        let mut expected = Variable::empty();
+        expected.extend(indexes);
+
+        assert_eq!(parse_variable_pair(variable), expected);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_variable_pair_with_root_index_variable() {
+        let variable = LiquidParser::parse(Rule::Variable, "[foo.bar]")
+            .unwrap()
+            .next()
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let indexes = vec![Expression::Variable(
+            Variable::with_literal("foo").push_literal("bar"),
+        )];
+
+        let mut expected = Variable::empty();
+        expected.extend(indexes);
+
+        assert_eq!(parse_variable_pair(variable), expected);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_whitespace_control() {
         let options = Language::default();
diff --git a/crates/core/src/runtime/variable.rs b/crates/core/src/runtime/variable.rs
index 60a8f663b..d0c678e15 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/runtime/variable.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/runtime/variable.rs
@@ -11,15 +11,22 @@ use super::Runtime;
 /// A `Value` reference.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct Variable {
-    variable: Scalar,
+    variable: Option<Scalar>,
     indexes: Vec<Expression>,
 }
 
 impl Variable {
+    pub fn empty() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            variable: None,
+            indexes: Default::default(),
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Create a `Value` reference.
     pub fn with_literal<S: Into<Scalar>>(value: S) -> Self {
         Self {
-            variable: value.into(),
+            variable: Some(value.into()),
             indexes: Default::default(),
         }
     }
@@ -32,7 +39,10 @@ impl Variable {
 
     /// Convert to a `Path`.
     pub fn try_evaluate<'c>(&'c self, runtime: &'c dyn Runtime) -> Option<Path<'c>> {
-        let mut path = Path::with_index(self.variable.as_ref());
+        let mut path = match self.variable.as_ref() {
+            Some(v) => Path::with_index(v.clone()),
+            None => Path::empty(),
+        };
         path.reserve(self.indexes.len());
         for expr in &self.indexes {
             let v = expr.try_evaluate(runtime)?;
@@ -47,7 +57,10 @@ impl Variable {
 
     /// Convert to a `Path`.
     pub fn evaluate<'c>(&'c self, runtime: &'c dyn Runtime) -> Result<Path<'c>> {
-        let mut path = Path::with_index(self.variable.as_ref());
+        let mut path = match self.variable.as_ref() {
+            Some(v) => Path::with_index(v.clone()),
+            None => Path::empty(),
+        };
         path.reserve(self.indexes.len());
         for expr in &self.indexes {
             let v = expr.evaluate(runtime)?;
diff --git a/tests/conformance_ruby/variable_test.rs b/tests/conformance_ruby/variable_test.rs
index 30f284b88..3e14f5dda 100644
--- a/tests/conformance_ruby/variable_test.rs
+++ b/tests/conformance_ruby/variable_test.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,47 @@ fn test_simple_variable() {
     );
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_simple_root_index_with_literal() {
+    assert_template_result!(r#"worked"#, r#"{{['test']}}"#, o!({"test": "worked"}));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_variable_index_access_with_literal() {
+    assert_template_result!(
+        r#"worked"#,
+        r#"{{nested['test']}}"#,
+        o!({"nested": {"test": "worked"}})
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_nested_hash_access() {
+    assert_template_result!(
+        r#"worked"#,
+        r#"{{['nested']['test']}}"#,
+        o!({"nested": {"test": "worked"}})
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_nested_literal_and_variable_access() {
+    assert_template_result!(
+        r#"worked"#,
+        r#"{{['nested'].test}}"#,
+        o!({"nested": {"test": "worked"}})
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_root_index_with_variable() {
+    assert_template_result!(
+        r#"it did"#,
+        r#"{{[nested.test]}}"#,
+        o!({"nested": {"test": "worked"}, "worked": "it did" })
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 #[should_panic]
 fn test_variable_render_calls_to_liquid() {