diff --git a/packages/ts-transformers/src/transformers/opaque-ref/helpers.ts b/packages/ts-transformers/src/transformers/opaque-ref/helpers.ts
index 799ec6c17..195787785 100644
--- a/packages/ts-transformers/src/transformers/opaque-ref/helpers.ts
+++ b/packages/ts-transformers/src/transformers/opaque-ref/helpers.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,16 @@ function originatesFromIgnoredParameter(
   const inner = (expr: ts.Expression): boolean => {
     if (ts.isIdentifier(expr)) {
       const symbol = checker.getSymbolAtLocation(expr);
+
+      // Don't filter identifiers without symbols here - they might be synthetic
+      // identifiers created by transformers (like map callback parameters), or
+      // they might be legitimate identifiers that lost their symbols. Let
+      // filterRelevantDataFlows handle this with more context about all the
+      // dataflows being analyzed together.
+      if (!symbol) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
       return isIgnoredSymbol(symbol);
     }
     if (
@@ -85,6 +95,101 @@ export function filterRelevantDataFlows(
   analysis: DataFlowAnalysis,
   context: TransformationContext,
 ): NormalizedDataFlow[] {
+  // Check if we have identifiers without symbols (synthetic identifiers created by transformers)
+  const hasSyntheticRoot = (expr: ts.Expression): boolean => {
+    let current = expr;
+    while (
+      ts.isPropertyAccessExpression(current) ||
+      ts.isElementAccessExpression(current)
+    ) {
+      current = current.expression;
+    }
+    if (ts.isIdentifier(current)) {
+      const symbol = context.checker.getSymbolAtLocation(current);
+      // No symbol means it's likely a synthetic identifier
+      return !symbol;
+    }
+    return false;
+  };
+
+  const syntheticDataFlows = dataFlows.filter((df) =>
+    hasSyntheticRoot(df.expression)
+  );
+  const nonSyntheticDataFlows = dataFlows.filter((df) =>
+    !hasSyntheticRoot(df.expression)
+  );
+
+  // If we have both synthetic and non-synthetic dataflows, we need to determine
+  // if we're inside or outside the map callback
+  if (syntheticDataFlows.length > 0 && nonSyntheticDataFlows.length > 0) {
+    // Check if any dataflow is in a scope with parameters from a map callback
+    // If so, we're inside a callback being transformed and should keep all dataflows
+    const isInMapCallbackScope = dataFlows.some((df) => {
+      const scope = analysis.graph.scopes.find((s) => s.id === df.scopeId);
+      if (!scope) return false;
+
+      // Check if any parameter in this scope comes from a builder or array-map
+      return scope.parameters.some((param) => {
+        if (!param.declaration) return false;
+        const callKind = getOpaqueCallKindForParameter(
+          param.declaration,
+          context.checker,
+        );
+        return callKind === "builder" || callKind === "array-map";
+      });
+    });
+
+    // If we're inside a map callback scope, keep all dataflows
+    if (isInMapCallbackScope) {
+      // Keep all dataflows - we're inside a callback with both synthetic params and captures
+      return dataFlows.filter((dataFlow) => {
+        if (
+          originatesFromIgnoredParameter(
+            dataFlow.expression,
+            dataFlow.scopeId,
+            analysis,
+            context.checker,
+          )
+        ) {
+          return false;
+        }
+        return true;
+      });
+    }
+
+    // Heuristic: Check if the non-synthetic dataflows have symbols in the outer
+    // scope If they reference outer-scope variables (like cells), we're at the
+    // outer scope and should filter synthetic params.
+    const nonSyntheticHaveOuterScopeSymbols = nonSyntheticDataFlows.every(
+      (df) => {
+        let rootExpr: ts.Expression = df.expression;
+        while (
+          ts.isPropertyAccessExpression(rootExpr) ||
+          ts.isElementAccessExpression(rootExpr)
+        ) {
+          rootExpr = rootExpr.expression;
+        }
+        if (ts.isIdentifier(rootExpr)) {
+          const symbol = context.checker.getSymbolAtLocation(rootExpr);
+          // If it has a symbol, it's likely from outer scope
+          return !!symbol;
+        }
+        return false;
+      },
+    );
+
+    // If all non-synthetic dataflows have outer-scope symbols AND we have 2 or
+    // more of them, we're likely analyzing an outer-scope expression that
+    // contains nested map callbacks
+    if (
+      nonSyntheticHaveOuterScopeSymbols && nonSyntheticDataFlows.length >= 2
+    ) {
+      return dataFlows.filter((df) => !hasSyntheticRoot(df.expression));
+    }
+
+    // Otherwise, we're inside a map callback with captures - keep all dataflows
+  }
+
   return dataFlows.filter((dataFlow) => {
     if (
       originatesFromIgnoredParameter(
diff --git a/packages/ts-transformers/test/fixtures/jsx-expressions/map-nested-conditional.expected.tsx b/packages/ts-transformers/test/fixtures/jsx-expressions/map-nested-conditional.expected.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ce879dc26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ts-transformers/test/fixtures/jsx-expressions/map-nested-conditional.expected.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import * as __ctHelpers from "commontools";
+import { cell, recipe, UI } from "commontools";
+export default recipe("MapNestedConditional", (_state) => {
+    const items = cell([{ name: "apple" }, { name: "banana" }]);
+    const showList = cell(true);
+    return {
+        [UI]: (<div>
+        {__ctHelpers.derive({ showList, items }, ({ showList: showList, items: items }) => showList && (<div>
+            {items.mapWithPattern(__ctHelpers.recipe({
+                $schema: "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+                type: "object",
+                properties: {
+                    element: {
+                        $ref: "#/$defs/__object"
+                    },
+                    params: {
+                        type: "object",
+                        properties: {}
+                    }
+                },
+                required: ["element", "params"],
+                $defs: {
+                    __object: {
+                        type: "object",
+                        properties: {
+                            name: {
+                                type: "string"
+                            }
+                        },
+                        required: ["name"]
+                    }
+                }
+            } as const satisfies __ctHelpers.JSONSchema, ({ element, params: {} }) => (<div>
+                {__ctHelpers.derive(element.name, _v1 => _v1 && <span>{_v1}</span>)}
+              </div>)), {})}
+          </div>))}
+      </div>),
+    };
+});
+// @ts-ignore: Internals
+function h(...args: any[]) { return __ctHelpers.h.apply(null, args); }
+// @ts-ignore: Internals
+h.fragment = __ctHelpers.h.fragment;
diff --git a/packages/ts-transformers/test/fixtures/jsx-expressions/map-nested-conditional.input.tsx b/packages/ts-transformers/test/fixtures/jsx-expressions/map-nested-conditional.input.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e9c7244cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/ts-transformers/test/fixtures/jsx-expressions/map-nested-conditional.input.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/// <cts-enable />
+import { cell, recipe, UI } from "commontools";
+
+export default recipe("MapNestedConditional", (_state) => {
+  const items = cell([{ name: "apple" }, { name: "banana" }]);
+  const showList = cell(true);
+
+  return {
+    [UI]: (
+      <div>
+        {showList && (
+          <div>
+            {items.map((item) => (
+              <div>
+                {item.name && <span>{item.name}</span>}
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </div>
+    ),
+  };
+});