The attached file generates a SIGABRT for me in guile-2.0.11 on my Mac. It looks like a stack overflow. The program is a sxml-match case with ~ 100 rules. I can work around by splitting the match into two cases of 50 rules. I am not sure this qualifies as a bug, but may be of interest. mwette$ uname -a Darwin nautilus.local 14.5.0 Darwin Kernel Version 14.5.0: Mon Jan 11 18:48:35 PST 2016; root:xnu-2782.50.2~1/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64 mwette$ guile sxml-match-stress.scm ;;; note: source file /Users/mwette/sxml-match-stress.scm ;;; newer than compiled /Users/mwette/.cache/guile/ccache/2.0-LE-8-2.0/Users/mwette/sxml-match-stress.scm.go ;;; note: auto-compilation is enabled, set GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE=0 ;;; or pass the --no-auto-compile argument to disable. ;;; compiling /Users/mwette/sxml-match-stress.scm Abort trap: 6 mwette$ ggdb /opt/local/bin/guile … (gdb) run ... scheme@(guile-user)> (load "sxml-match-stress.scm") ;;; note: source file /Users/mwette/sxml-match-stress.scm ;;; newer than compiled /Users/mwette/.cache/guile/ccache/2.0-LE-8-2.0/Users/mwette/sxml-match-stress.scm.go ;;; note: auto-compilation is enabled, set GUILE_AUTO_COMPILE=0 ;;; or pass the --no-auto-compile argument to disable. ;;; compiling /Users/mwette/sxml-match-stress.scm [New Thread 0x140b of process 36705] Program received signal SIGABRT, Aborted. 0x00007fff93ca5286 in __pthread_kill () from /usr/lib/system/libsystem_kernel.dylib (gdb) info stack #0 0x00007fff93ca5286 in __pthread_kill () from /usr/lib/system/libsystem_kernel.dylib #1 0x00007fff944e79f9 in pthread_kill () from /usr/lib/system/libsystem_pthread.dylib #2 0x00007fff8b75b9ab in abort () from /usr/lib/system/libsystem_c.dylib #3 0x00000001000a81b8 in vm_error_stack_overflow () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #4 0x00000001000a7688 in vm_debug_engine () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #5 0x00000001000917e6 in scm_c_vm_run () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #6 0x0000000100091f70 in scm_call_with_vm () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #7 0x00000001000a8219 in vm_error () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #8 0x00000001000a81b3 in vm_error_stack_overflow () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #9 0x00000001000a7688 in vm_debug_engine () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #10 0x00000001000917e6 in scm_c_vm_run () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #11 0x000000010001a651 in scm_i_dowinds () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #12 0x000000010001460b in scm_c_abort () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #13 0x00000001000a807c in vm_abort () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #14 0x00000001000a6c16 in vm_debug_engine () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #15 0x00000001000917e6 in scm_c_vm_run () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #16 0x0000000100091f70 in scm_call_with_vm () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #17 0x000000010001af70 in scm_error_scm () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #18 0x000000010001af46 in scm_error () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #19 0x000000010001b067 in scm_syserror () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #20 0x0000000100023140 in scm_delete_file () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #21 0x000000010009e559 in vm_debug_engine () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #22 0x00000001000917e6 in scm_c_vm_run () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #23 0x0000000100091f70 in scm_call_with_vm () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #24 0x00000001000a8219 in vm_error () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #25 0x00000001000a81b3 in vm_error_stack_overflow () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #26 0x00000001000a7688 in vm_debug_engine () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #27 0x00000001000917e6 in scm_c_vm_run () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #28 0x000000010001a651 in scm_i_dowinds () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #29 0x000000010001460b in scm_c_abort () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #30 0x00000001000a807c in vm_abort () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #31 0x00000001000a6c16 in vm_debug_engine () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #32 0x00000001000917e6 in scm_c_vm_run () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #33 0x0000000100091f70 in scm_call_with_vm () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #34 0x000000010001af70 in scm_error_scm () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #35 0x000000010001af46 in scm_error () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib #36 0x000000010001b067 in scm_syserror () from /opt/local/lib/libguile-2.0.22.dylib ...