diff --git a/impls/sml/reader.sml b/impls/sml/reader.sml
index 08f91fa4..5d4e28dd 100644
--- a/impls/sml/reader.sml
+++ b/impls/sml/reader.sml
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+exception Nothing
+exception SyntaxError of string
+exception ReaderError of string
+
 structure Ss = Substring
 
 datatype token =
@@ -27,10 +31,6 @@ fun tokenString SPACE         = "SPACE"
   | tokenString AT            = "AT"
   | tokenString (ATOM s)      = "ATOM (" ^ s ^ ")"
 
-exception Nothing
-exception SyntaxError of string
-exception ReaderError of string
-
 datatype reader = READER of token list
 
 fun next (READER (x::xs)) = SOME (x, READER xs)