diff --git a/mzte-nv/conf/lua/mzte_nv_preloader.lua b/mzte-nv/conf/lua/mzte_nv_preloader.lua
index 78b36b7..5b07458 100644
--- a/mzte-nv/conf/lua/mzte_nv_preloader.lua
+++ b/mzte-nv/conf/lua/mzte_nv_preloader.lua
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 -- This module is responsible for loading the native mzte-nv lua module
 package.cpath = package.cpath .. ";" .. vim.loop.os_homedir() .. "/.local/share/nvim/mzte-nv.so"
 
-local success = pcall(require, "mzte_nv");
+local success, mztenv = pcall(require, "mzte_nv")
 if not success then
     error "Failed to preload mzte-nv. Is it installed?"
 end
 
-require("mzte_nv").onInit()
+mztenv.onInit()
diff --git a/mzte-nv/conf/lua/plugins.lua b/mzte-nv/conf/lua/plugins.lua
index f1ab94a..f5cc613 100644
--- a/mzte-nv/conf/lua/plugins.lua
+++ b/mzte-nv/conf/lua/plugins.lua
@@ -186,6 +186,11 @@ require("packer").startup(function(use)
     cmp_plugins(use)
 end)
 
-vim.api.nvim_create_user_command("CompilePlugins", function()
-    require("mzte_nv").compile.compilePath(require("packer").config.package_root)
-end, { nargs = 0 })
+-- actually compile packer-generated config after packer's "compile" step
+vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("User", {
+    pattern = "PackerCompileDone",
+    once = true,
+    callback = function()
+        require("mzte_nv").compile.compilePath(require("packer").config.compile_path)
+    end,
+})
diff --git a/mzte-nv/conf/lua/settings.lua b/mzte-nv/conf/lua/settings.lua
index 2c0a288..4116240 100644
--- a/mzte-nv/conf/lua/settings.lua
+++ b/mzte-nv/conf/lua/settings.lua
@@ -40,3 +40,7 @@ cmd "filetype plugin on"
 vim.api.nvim_create_user_command("CompileConfig", function()
     require("mzte_nv").compile.compilePath(vim.fn.getenv("HOME") .. "/.config/nvim")
 end, { nargs = 0 })
+
+vim.api.nvim_create_user_command("CompilePlugins", function()
+    require("mzte_nv").compile.compilePath(require("packer").config.package_root)
+end, { nargs = 0 })
diff --git a/mzte-nv/src/compiler.zig b/mzte-nv/src/compiler.zig
index b813a3f..e899fc5 100644
--- a/mzte-nv/src/compiler.zig
+++ b/mzte-nv/src/compiler.zig
@@ -46,32 +46,36 @@ pub fn doCompile(path: []const u8, alloc: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
     // prepare state
     c.lua_getfield(l, c.LUA_GLOBALSINDEX, "string");
 
-    var dir = try std.fs.cwd().openIterableDir(path, .{});
-    defer dir.close();
-
-    var walker = try dir.walk(alloc);
-    defer walker.deinit();
-
-    // a list of lua files to compile
-    var files = std.ArrayList([]const u8).init(alloc);
-    defer files.deinit();
-
     // an arena allocator to hold data to be used during the build
     var build_arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(alloc);
     defer build_arena.deinit();
     const build_alloc = build_arena.allocator();
 
-    while (try walker.next()) |entry| {
-        const entry_path = try std.fs.path.join(build_alloc, &.{ path, entry.path });
+    // a list of lua files to compile
+    var files = std.ArrayList([]const u8).init(alloc);
+    defer files.deinit();
 
-        switch (entry.kind) {
-            .File => {
-                if (std.mem.endsWith(u8, entry.path, ".lua")) {
-                    try files.append(entry_path);
-                }
-            },
-            else => {},
+    if ((try std.fs.cwd().statFile(path)).kind == .Directory) {
+        var dir = try std.fs.cwd().openIterableDir(path, .{});
+        defer dir.close();
+
+        var walker = try dir.walk(alloc);
+        defer walker.deinit();
+
+        while (try walker.next()) |entry| {
+            const entry_path = try std.fs.path.join(build_alloc, &.{ path, entry.path });
+
+            switch (entry.kind) {
+                .File => {
+                    if (std.mem.endsWith(u8, entry.path, ".lua")) {
+                        try files.append(entry_path);
+                    }
+                },
+                else => {},
+            }
         }
+    } else {
+        try files.append(path);
     }
 
     for (files.items) |luafile| {
@@ -80,7 +84,7 @@ pub fn doCompile(path: []const u8, alloc: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
 
         c.lua_getfield(l, -1, "dump");
         if (c.luaL_loadfile(l, luafile_z) != 0) {
-            std.log.warn(
+            log.warn(
                 "error compiling lua object {s}: {s}",
                 .{ luafile, c.lua_tolstring(l, -1, null) },
             );
diff --git a/mzte-nv/src/main.zig b/mzte-nv/src/main.zig
index e2d1fd4..c58a773 100644
--- a/mzte-nv/src/main.zig
+++ b/mzte-nv/src/main.zig
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ const ffi = @import("ffi.zig");
 const ser = @import("ser.zig");
 const c = ffi.c;
 
-pub const version = "1.1.0";
+pub const version = "1.2.0";
 
 const modules = struct {
     const cmp = @import("modules/cmp.zig");