diff --git a/src/ikarus.boot b/src/ikarus.boot
index 4f878e5..1a92825 100644
Binary files a/src/ikarus.boot and b/src/ikarus.boot differ
diff --git a/src/ikarus.fasl.ss b/src/ikarus.fasl.ss
index 4d2e6fd..da5b2a8 100644
--- a/src/ikarus.fasl.ss
+++ b/src/ikarus.fasl.ss
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
               (make-graph (code-reloc-vector x) h)]
              [(record? x)
               (when (eq? x (base-rtd))
-                (error 'fasl-write "$base-rtd is not writable"))
+                (error 'fasl-write "base-rtd is not writable"))
               (let ([rtd (record-type-descriptor x)])
                 (cond
                   [(eq? rtd (base-rtd))
diff --git a/src/ikarus.records.ss b/src/ikarus.records.ss
index d76409d..16827c4 100644
--- a/src/ikarus.records.ss
+++ b/src/ikarus.records.ss
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
       record-field-accessor record-field-mutator record?  record-rtd
       record-type-descriptor record-name record-printer record-length
       record-ref record-set!)
-    (only (scheme) $record? $record-rtd $base-rtd $record-ref
+    (only (scheme) $record? $record-rtd $record-ref
           $record-set! $record $make-record $car $cdr $fxadd1 
           $fx< $fx= $fx+ $fx>=
           set-top-level-value! top-level-value top-level-bound?))
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
   (define rtd?
     (lambda (x)
       (and ($record? x)
-           (eq? ($record-rtd x) $base-rtd))))
+           (eq? ($record-rtd x) (base-rtd)))))
 
   (define rtd-name
     (lambda (rtd)
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
 
   (define make-rtd
     (lambda (name fields printer symbol)
-      ($record $base-rtd name (length fields) fields printer symbol)))
+      ($record (base-rtd) name (length fields) fields printer symbol)))
 
   (define verify-field
     (lambda (x)
@@ -254,9 +254,9 @@
           (error 'record-set! "index ~s is out of range for ~s" i x))
         ($record-set! x i v))))
 
-  (set-rtd-fields! $base-rtd '(name fields length printer symbol))
-  (set-rtd-name! $base-rtd "base-rtd")
-  (set-rtd-printer! $base-rtd
+  (set-rtd-fields! (base-rtd) '(name fields length printer symbol))
+  (set-rtd-name! (base-rtd) "base-rtd")
+  (set-rtd-printer! (base-rtd)
     (lambda (x p)
       (unless (rtd? x)
         (error 'record-type-printer "not an rtd"))
diff --git a/src/makefile.ss b/src/makefile.ss
index ffc62cd..f13e042 100755
--- a/src/makefile.ss
+++ b/src/makefile.ss
@@ -457,7 +457,6 @@
       [record-ref                       s i]
       [record-field-accessor            s i]
       [record-field-mutator             s i]
-      [$base-rtd                        s  ]
       [$record-set!                     s  ]
       [$record-ref                      s  ]
       [$record-rtd                      s  ]
@@ -919,7 +918,6 @@
       [record-field-accessor   record-field-accessor-label   (core-prim . record-field-accessor)]
       [record-field-mutator    record-field-mutator-label    (core-prim . record-field-mutator)]
       ;;; records/low-level 
-      [$base-rtd    $base-rtd-label    (core-prim . $base-rtd)]
       [$record-set! $record-set!-label (core-prim . $record-set!)]
       [$record-ref  $record-ref-label  (core-prim . $record-ref)]
       [$record-rtd  $record-rtd-label  (core-prim . $record-rtd)]