diff --git a/src/fmt/expr.rs b/src/fmt/expr.rs
index d6aa509572..0ee15c89ed 100644
--- a/src/fmt/expr.rs
+++ b/src/fmt/expr.rs
@@ -173,6 +173,25 @@ pub fn fmt_expr<'a>(
                 }
             }
         }
+        List(loc_items) => {
+            buf.push('[');
+
+            let mut iter = loc_items.iter().peekable();
+
+            while let Some(item) = iter.next() {
+                buf.push(' ');
+                fmt_expr(buf, &item.value, indent, false, true);
+
+                if iter.peek().is_some() {
+                    buf.push(',');
+                }
+            }
+
+            if !loc_items.is_empty() {
+                buf.push(' ');
+            }
+            buf.push(']');
+        }
         other => panic!("TODO implement Display for AST variant {:?}", other),
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/parse/parser.rs b/src/parse/parser.rs
index a2bf54a922..423fc3b5ba 100644
--- a/src/parse/parser.rs
+++ b/src/parse/parser.rs
@@ -652,17 +652,28 @@ macro_rules! skip_second {
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! collection {
     ($opening_brace:expr, $elem:expr, $delimiter:expr, $closing_brace:expr, $min_indent:expr) => {
-        // TODO allow trailing commas before the closing delimiter, *but* without
-        // losing any comments or newlines! This will require parsing them and then,
-        // if they are present, merging them into the final Spaceable.
         skip_first!(
             $opening_brace,
-            skip_second!(
-                $crate::parse::parser::sep_by0(
-                    $delimiter,
-                    $crate::parse::blankspace::space0_around($elem, $min_indent)
-                ),
-                $closing_brace
+            skip_first!(
+                // We specifically allow space characters inside here, so that
+                // `[  ]` can be successfully parsed as an empty list, and then
+                // changed by the formatter back into `[]`.
+                //
+                // We don't allow newlines or comments in the middle of empty
+                // collections because those are normally stored in an Expr,
+                // and there's no Expr in which to store them in an empty collection!
+                //
+                // We could change the AST to add extra storage specifically to
+                // support empty literals containing newlines or comments, but this
+                // does not seem worth even the tiniest regression in compiler performance.
+                zero_or_more!(char(' ')),
+                skip_second!(
+                    $crate::parse::parser::sep_by0(
+                        $delimiter,
+                        $crate::parse::blankspace::space0_around($elem, $min_indent)
+                    ),
+                    $closing_brace
+                )
             )
         )
     };
diff --git a/src/subs.rs b/src/subs.rs
index e9855f10ad..14ccdba33b 100644
--- a/src/subs.rs
+++ b/src/subs.rs
@@ -235,15 +235,7 @@ impl Subs {
         if desc.copy.is_some() {
             let content = desc.content;
 
-            self.set(
-                var,
-                Descriptor {
-                    content: content.clone(),
-                    rank: Rank::NONE,
-                    mark: Mark::NONE,
-                    copy: None,
-                },
-            );
+            self.set(var, content.clone().into());
 
             restore_content(self, &content);
         }
diff --git a/tests/test_format.rs b/tests/test_format.rs
index 1ff5e0b1dd..d95a20cb61 100644
--- a/tests/test_format.rs
+++ b/tests/test_format.rs
@@ -540,6 +540,24 @@ mod test_format {
         ));
     }
 
+    // LIST
+    #[test]
+    fn empty_list() {
+        expr_formats_same("[]");
+        expr_formats_to("[     ]", "[]");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn one_item_list() {
+        expr_formats_same(indoc!("[ 4 ] "));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn two_item_list() {
+        expr_formats_same(indoc!("[ 7, 8 ] "));
+        expr_formats_to(indoc!("[   7  ,   8  ] "), indoc!("[ 7, 8 ] "));
+    }
+
     // RECORD LITERALS
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/tests/test_parse.rs b/tests/test_parse.rs
index 96aed45c41..3fad690b08 100644
--- a/tests/test_parse.rs
+++ b/tests/test_parse.rs
@@ -669,6 +669,17 @@ mod test_parse {
         assert_eq!(Ok(expected), actual);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn spaces_inside_empty_list() {
+        // This is a regression test!
+        let arena = Bump::new();
+        let elems = Vec::new_in(&arena);
+        let expected = List(elems);
+        let actual = parse_with(&arena, "[  ]");
+
+        assert_eq!(Ok(expected), actual);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn packed_singleton_list() {
         let arena = Bump::new();