test$ cat test.asm

a0b:
global $a0b
test$ nasm -v
NASM version 3.01rc3 compiled on Mar  6 2026
test$ nasm -f obj test.asm
test.asm:3: error: identifier expected after global, got `a0b'
test$ oldnasm -v
NASM version 2.15rc0 compiled on Dec 28 2018
test$ oldnasm -f obj test.asm
test$ ~/proj/nasm-6950581b35c3e2e67c48e1062694a933e50ffc85/nasm -v
NASM version 3.02rc10 compiled on Jun 26 2026
test$ ~/proj/nasm-6950581b35c3e2e67c48e1062694a933e50ffc85/nasm -f obj test.asm
test.asm:3: error: identifier expected after global, got `$a0b'
test$ ~/proj/nasm-patch/nasm -v
NASM version 3.02rc10 compiled on Jun 26 2026
test$ ~/proj/nasm-patch/nasm -f obj test.asm
test$