diff --git a/src/compiler/utilities.ts b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
index e66e1925519..37a7552a3e7 100644
--- a/src/compiler/utilities.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ namespace ts {
         }
     }
 
-    export function isVariableLike(node: Node): boolean {
+    export function isVariableLike(node: Node): node is VariableLikeDeclaration {
         if (node) {
             switch (node.kind) {
                 case SyntaxKind.BindingElement: