diff --git a/src/compiler/factory.ts b/src/compiler/factory.ts
index 3523cdb05ee..e59ddfd7317 100644
--- a/src/compiler/factory.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/factory.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@ namespace ts {
             ? new ConstructorForKind(kind, location.pos, location.end)
             : new ConstructorForKind(kind, /*pos*/ -1, /*end*/ -1);
 
-        if (flags) {
-            node.flags = flags;
-        }
+        node.flags = flags | NodeFlags.Synthesized;
 
         return node;
     }
@@ -68,8 +66,7 @@ namespace ts {
         // We don't use "clone" from core.ts here, as we need to preserve the prototype chain of
         // the original node. We also need to exclude specific properties and only include own-
         // properties (to skip members already defined on the shared prototype).
-        const clone = <T>createNode(node.kind, /*location*/ undefined, /*flags*/ undefined);
-        clone.flags = node.flags;
+        const clone = <T>createNode(node.kind, /*location*/ undefined, node.flags);
         clone.original = node;
 
         for (const key in node) {
@@ -827,6 +824,7 @@ namespace ts {
         // Create an identifier and give it a parent. This allows us to resolve the react
         // namespace during emit.
         const react = createIdentifier(reactNamespace || "React");
+        react.flags &= ~NodeFlags.Synthesized;
         react.parent = parent;
         return react;
     }
diff --git a/src/compiler/parser.ts b/src/compiler/parser.ts
index 7689055c746..d9d1eee73d4 100644
--- a/src/compiler/parser.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/parser.ts
@@ -2034,7 +2034,7 @@ namespace ts {
             // FormalParameter [Yield,Await]:
             //      BindingElement[?Yield,?Await]
             node.name = parseIdentifierOrPattern();
-            if (getFullWidth(node.name) === 0 && node.flags === 0 && isModifierKind(token)) {
+            if (getFullWidth(node.name) === 0 && !hasModifiers(node) && isModifierKind(token)) {
                 // in cases like
                 // 'use strict'
                 // function foo(static)
diff --git a/src/compiler/transformers/ts.ts b/src/compiler/transformers/ts.ts
index 9d3ed9f051c..3b7cf95d2f1 100644
--- a/src/compiler/transformers/ts.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/transformers/ts.ts
@@ -1752,7 +1752,10 @@ namespace ts {
         function serializeEntityNameAsExpression(node: EntityName, useFallback: boolean): Expression {
             switch (node.kind) {
                 case SyntaxKind.Identifier:
+                    // Create a clone of the name with a new parent, and treat it as if it were
+                    // a source tree node for the purposes of the checker.
                     const name = getMutableClone(<Identifier>node);
+                    name.flags &= ~NodeFlags.Synthesized;
                     name.original = undefined;
                     name.parent = currentScope;
                     if (useFallback) {
diff --git a/src/compiler/types.ts b/src/compiler/types.ts
index 059434e5251..42beb0e6335 100644
--- a/src/compiler/types.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/types.ts
@@ -383,6 +383,7 @@ namespace ts {
         Let =                1 << 0,   // Variable declaration
         Const =              1 << 1,   // Variable declaration
         NestedNamespace =    1 << 2,   // Namespace declaration
+        Synthesized =        1 << 3,   // Node was synthesized during transformation
         Namespace =          1 << 12,  // Namespace declaration
         ExportContext =      1 << 13,  // Export context (initialized by binding)
         ContainsThis =       1 << 14,  // Interface contains references to "this"
diff --git a/src/compiler/utilities.ts b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
index 5f023b3909f..655f731f10c 100644
--- a/src/compiler/utilities.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
@@ -1831,14 +1831,17 @@ namespace ts {
     }
 
     export function isSourceTreeNode(node: Node): boolean {
-        return node.original === undefined
-            && (node.parent !== undefined || node.kind === SyntaxKind.SourceFile);
+        return (node.flags & NodeFlags.Synthesized) === 0;
     }
 
     export function getSourceTreeNode(node: Node): Node {
+        if (isSourceTreeNode(node)) {
+            return node;
+        }
+
         node = getOriginalNode(node);
 
-        if (node && (node.parent !== undefined || node.kind === SyntaxKind.SourceFile)) {
+        if (isSourceTreeNode(node)) {
             return node;
         }