diff --git a/src/parse.c b/src/parse.c
index 66d6ba5..2fae6ff 100644
--- a/src/parse.c
+++ b/src/parse.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 // TODO: remove malloc and strndup calls
 
 static bool nl_is_whitespace(char c) {
-    return c == ' ' || c == '\n';
+    return c == ' ' || c == '\n' || c == '\t';
 }
 
 static bool nl_is_token(char c) {
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ struct nl_object *nl_token_next(const char **curr_src) {
                 return NULL;
             case ' ':
             case '\n':
+            case '\t':
                 start++;
                 (*curr_src)++;
                 continue;
@@ -78,21 +79,12 @@ struct nl_object *nl_token_next(const char **curr_src) {
 }
 
 struct nl_object *nl_tokenize(const char *source) {
-    struct nl_object *tokens = NULL, *curr_token = NULL, *prev_token = NULL;
+    struct nl_object *tokens = NULL, *curr_token = NULL, **next_token = &tokens;
     const char *curr_src = source;
 
-    while (true) {
-        curr_token = nl_token_next(&curr_src);
-        if (curr_token == NULL) {
-            break;
-        }
-
-        if (tokens == NULL) {
-            tokens = curr_token;
-        } else {
-            prev_token->cell.cdr = curr_token;
-        }
-        prev_token = curr_token;
+    while ((curr_token = nl_token_next(&curr_src)) != NULL) {
+        *next_token = curr_token;
+        next_token = &curr_token->cell.cdr;
     }
 
     return tokens;
@@ -107,9 +99,6 @@ struct nl_object *nl_parse(const char *source) {
     for (struct nl_object *token = tokens;
          token != NULL;
          token = token->cell.cdr) {
-
-
-
     }
 
     nl_object_delete(tokens);
diff --git a/test/test_parse.c b/test/test_parse.c
index 4b6a863..3e9d6b4 100644
--- a/test/test_parse.c
+++ b/test/test_parse.c
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ void test_parse_empty_str() {
     TEST_ASSERT_NULL(response);
 }
 
-void test_parse_empty_str() {
+void test_parse_symbol() {
     response = nl_parse("foo");
 
     TEST_ASSERT_NOT_NULL(response);