diff --git a/cmd/tools/vast/vast.v b/cmd/tools/vast/vast.v
index ffc4231f67..88e01a2e39 100644
--- a/cmd/tools/vast/vast.v
+++ b/cmd/tools/vast/vast.v
@@ -1358,6 +1358,7 @@ fn (t Tree) postfix_expr(node ast.PostfixExpr) &Node {
 	obj.add_terse('expr', t.expr(node.expr))
 	obj.add('auto_locked', t.string_node(node.auto_locked))
 	obj.add('pos', t.pos(node.pos))
+	obj.add('is_c2v_prefix', t.bool_node(node.is_c2v_prefix))
 	return obj
 }
 
diff --git a/vlib/v/ast/ast.v b/vlib/v/ast/ast.v
index 658d3cc599..33a4340a55 100644
--- a/vlib/v/ast/ast.v
+++ b/vlib/v/ast/ast.v
@@ -862,8 +862,9 @@ pub mut:
 // ++, --
 pub struct PostfixExpr {
 pub:
-	op  token.Kind
-	pos token.Pos
+	op            token.Kind
+	pos           token.Pos
+	is_c2v_prefix bool // for `--x` (`x--$`), only for translated code until c2v can handle it
 pub mut:
 	expr        Expr
 	auto_locked string
diff --git a/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v b/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v
index fc91352e42..58935b7cf1 100644
--- a/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v
+++ b/vlib/v/fmt/fmt.v
@@ -2387,6 +2387,9 @@ pub fn (mut f Fmt) postfix_expr(node ast.PostfixExpr) {
 	} else {
 		f.write('$node.op')
 	}
+	if node.is_c2v_prefix {
+		f.write('$')
+	}
 }
 
 pub fn (mut f Fmt) prefix_expr(node ast.PrefixExpr) {
diff --git a/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v b/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v
index 31c9bc013b..c7e16f5a5b 100644
--- a/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v
+++ b/vlib/v/gen/c/cgen.v
@@ -3040,6 +3040,9 @@ fn (mut g Gen) expr(node_ ast.Expr) {
 				g.writeln('sync__RwMutex_lock(&$node.auto_locked->mtx);')
 			}
 			g.inside_map_postfix = true
+			if node.is_c2v_prefix {
+				g.write(node.op.str())
+			}
 			if node.expr.is_auto_deref_var() {
 				g.write('(*')
 				g.expr(node.expr)
@@ -3048,7 +3051,9 @@ fn (mut g Gen) expr(node_ ast.Expr) {
 				g.expr(node.expr)
 			}
 			g.inside_map_postfix = false
-			g.write(node.op.str())
+			if !node.is_c2v_prefix {
+				g.write(node.op.str())
+			}
 			if node.auto_locked != '' {
 				g.writeln(';')
 				g.write('sync__RwMutex_unlock(&$node.auto_locked->mtx)')
diff --git a/vlib/v/parser/expr.v b/vlib/v/parser/expr.v
index 3fddc0440b..63ce4e7dbc 100644
--- a/vlib/v/parser/expr.v
+++ b/vlib/v/parser/expr.v
@@ -467,10 +467,15 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) expr_with_left(left ast.Expr, precedence int, is_stmt_iden
 			if mut node is ast.IndexExpr {
 				node.recursive_mapset_is_setter(true)
 			}
+			is_c2v_prefix := p.peek_tok.kind == .dollar
 			node = ast.PostfixExpr{
 				op: p.tok.kind
 				expr: node
 				pos: p.tok.pos()
+				is_c2v_prefix: is_c2v_prefix
+			}
+			if is_c2v_prefix {
+				p.next()
 			}
 			p.next()
 			// return node // TODO bring back, only allow ++/-- in exprs in translated code