diff --git a/vlib/v/checker/fn.v b/vlib/v/checker/fn.v
index 07518bfb8b..bc7c442a5b 100644
--- a/vlib/v/checker/fn.v
+++ b/vlib/v/checker/fn.v
@@ -2066,10 +2066,7 @@ fn (mut c Checker) method_call(mut node ast.CallExpr) ast.Type {
 			node.pos)
 	}
 	if method.params[0].is_mut {
-		to_lock, pos := c.fail_if_immutable(mut node.left)
-		if !node.left.is_lvalue() {
-			c.error('cannot pass expression as `mut`', node.left.pos())
-		}
+		to_lock, pos := c.check_for_mut_receiver(mut node.left)
 		// node.is_mut = true
 		if to_lock != '' && rec_share != .shared_t {
 			c.error('${to_lock} is `shared` and must be `lock`ed to be passed as `mut`',
@@ -2684,7 +2681,7 @@ fn (mut c Checker) map_builtin_method_call(mut node ast.CallExpr, left_type_ ast
 				c.error('`.${method_name}()` does not have any arguments', node.args[0].pos)
 			}
 			if method_name[0] == `m` {
-				c.fail_if_immutable(mut node.left)
+				c.check_for_mut_receiver(mut node.left)
 			}
 			if node.left.is_auto_deref_var() || left_type.has_flag(.shared_f) {
 				ret_type = node.left_type.deref()
@@ -2712,7 +2709,7 @@ fn (mut c Checker) map_builtin_method_call(mut node ast.CallExpr, left_type_ ast
 			}
 		}
 		'delete' {
-			c.fail_if_immutable(mut node.left)
+			c.check_for_mut_receiver(mut node.left)
 			if node.args.len != 1 {
 				c.error('expected 1 argument, but got ${node.args.len}', node.pos)
 			}
@@ -2789,7 +2786,7 @@ fn (mut c Checker) array_builtin_method_call(mut node ast.CallExpr, left_type as
 				c.error('the `sort()` method can be called only on mutable receivers, but `${node.left}` is a call expression',
 					node.pos)
 			}
-			c.fail_if_immutable(mut node.left)
+			c.check_for_mut_receiver(mut node.left)
 		}
 		// position of `a` and `b` doesn't matter, they're the same
 		scope_register_a_b(mut node.scope, node.pos, elem_typ)
@@ -2943,13 +2940,13 @@ fn (mut c Checker) array_builtin_method_call(mut node ast.CallExpr, left_type as
 		}
 		node.return_type = array_info.elem_type
 		if method_name == 'pop' {
-			c.fail_if_immutable(mut node.left)
+			c.check_for_mut_receiver(mut node.left)
 			node.receiver_type = node.left_type.ref()
 		} else {
 			node.receiver_type = node.left_type
 		}
 	} else if method_name == 'delete' {
-		c.fail_if_immutable(mut node.left)
+		c.check_for_mut_receiver(mut node.left)
 		unwrapped_left_sym := c.table.sym(unwrapped_left_type)
 		if method := c.table.find_method(unwrapped_left_sym, method_name) {
 			node.receiver_type = method.receiver_type
@@ -2959,6 +2956,14 @@ fn (mut c Checker) array_builtin_method_call(mut node ast.CallExpr, left_type as
 	return node.return_type
 }
 
+fn (mut c Checker) check_for_mut_receiver(mut expr ast.Expr) (string, token.Pos) {
+	to_lock, pos := c.fail_if_immutable(mut expr)
+	if !expr.is_lvalue() {
+		c.error('cannot pass expression as `mut`', expr.pos())
+	}
+	return to_lock, pos
+}
+
 fn scope_register_it(mut s ast.Scope, pos token.Pos, typ ast.Type) {
 	scope_register_var_name(mut s, pos, typ, 'it')
 }
diff --git a/vlib/v/checker/tests/fn_return_array_sort_err.out b/vlib/v/checker/tests/fn_return_array_sort_err.out
index d15d93706d..53aaace036 100644
--- a/vlib/v/checker/tests/fn_return_array_sort_err.out
+++ b/vlib/v/checker/tests/fn_return_array_sort_err.out
@@ -4,3 +4,9 @@ vlib/v/checker/tests/fn_return_array_sort_err.vv:6:14: error: the `sort()` metho
     6 |     ret_array().sort()
       |                 ~~~~~~
     7 | }
+vlib/v/checker/tests/fn_return_array_sort_err.vv:6:2: error: cannot pass expression as `mut`
+    4 | 
+    5 | fn main() {
+    6 |     ret_array().sort()
+      |     ~~~~~~~~~~~
+    7 | }
diff --git a/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.out b/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.out
index e0cd49066d..17f5006893 100644
--- a/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.out
+++ b/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.out
@@ -1,5 +1,20 @@
-vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv:10:1: error: cannot pass expression as `mut`
-    8 | }
-    9 | 
-   10 | Box{}.set(0)
-      | ~~~~~
+vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv:12:2: error: cannot pass expression as `mut`
+   10 | 
+   11 | fn non_mut_receiver() {
+   12 |     Box{}.set(0)
+      |     ~~~~~
+   13 | }
+   14 |
+vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv:18:11: error: cannot pass expression as `mut`
+   16 | fn array_chained_method_calls() {
+   17 |     path := 'hello/file.txt'
+   18 |     _ = path.split('.').pop()
+      |              ~~~~~~~~~~
+   19 | }
+   20 |
+vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv:24:4: error: cannot pass expression as `mut`
+   22 | fn map_chained_method_calls() {
+   23 |     mut m := map[int]int{}
+   24 |     m.clone().delete(0)
+      |       ~~~~~~~
+   25 | }
diff --git a/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv b/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv
index e015e715f2..f8fe0ef9b3 100644
--- a/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv
+++ b/vlib/v/checker/tests/mut_receiver_lit.vv
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// error in non-mut as receover
 struct Box {
 mut:
 	value int
@@ -7,4 +8,18 @@ fn (mut box Box) set(value int) {
 	box.value = value
 }
 
-Box{}.set(0)
+fn non_mut_receiver() {
+	Box{}.set(0)
+}
+
+// error in array chained method calls
+fn array_chained_method_calls() {
+	path := 'hello/file.txt'
+	_ = path.split('.').pop()
+}
+
+// error in map chained method calls
+fn map_chained_method_calls() {
+	mut m := map[int]int{}
+	m.clone().delete(0)
+}
diff --git a/vlib/v/tests/method_call_chain_test.v b/vlib/v/tests/method_call_chained_test.v
similarity index 81%
rename from vlib/v/tests/method_call_chain_test.v
rename to vlib/v/tests/method_call_chained_test.v
index c9cef8d4be..698322936c 100644
--- a/vlib/v/tests/method_call_chain_test.v
+++ b/vlib/v/tests/method_call_chained_test.v
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@
 // Phenomenon: cgen brackets are asymmetric in chained method calls.
 fn test_main() {
 	mut path := 'hello/file.txt'
-	extension := path.split('.').pop()
+	extension := path.split('.').last()
 	assert extension == 'txt'
 }