diff --git a/guidance/_grammar.py b/guidance/_grammar.py
index e85c46bb0..14ba5dd56 100644
--- a/guidance/_grammar.py
+++ b/guidance/_grammar.py
@@ -170,6 +170,10 @@ def __radd__(self, value):
 
     def __getitem__(self, value):
         raise StatefulException("GrammarFunctions can't access state!")
+    
+    @property
+    def token_count(self):
+        raise StatefulException("GrammarFunctions can't access state!")
 
     def match(
         self,
diff --git a/guidance/_guidance.py b/guidance/_guidance.py
index b43ae91e6..1fd6ddff9 100644
--- a/guidance/_guidance.py
+++ b/guidance/_guidance.py
@@ -35,37 +35,38 @@ def _decorator(f, *, stateless, cache, dedent, model):
         @functools.wraps(f)
         def wrapped(*args, **kwargs):
 
-            # make a stateless grammar if we can
-            try:
-
-                # if we have a placeholder set then we must be in a recursive definition and so we return the placeholder
-                placeholder = getattr(f, "_self_call_placeholder_", None)
-                if placeholder is not None:
-                    return placeholder
-
-                # otherwise we call the function to generate the grammar
-                else:
-
-                    # set a placeholder for recursive calls (only if we don't have arguments that might make caching a bad idea)
-                    no_args = len(args) + len(kwargs) == 0
-                    if no_args:
-                        f._self_call_placeholder_ = Placeholder()
-
-                    # call the function to get the grammar node
+            # if we have a placeholder set then we must be in a recursive definition and so we return the placeholder
+            placeholder = getattr(f, "_self_call_placeholder_", None)
+            if placeholder is not None:
+                return placeholder
+
+            # otherwise we call the function to generate the grammar
+            else:
+
+                # set a placeholder for recursive calls (only if we don't have arguments that might make caching a bad idea)
+                no_args = len(args) + len(kwargs) == 0
+                if no_args:
+                    f._self_call_placeholder_ = Placeholder()
+
+                # try to trace the function to get a grammar node
+                node = None
+                try:
                     node = f(_null_grammar, *args, **kwargs)
                     if not isinstance(node, (Terminal, str)):
                         node.name = f.__name__
-
-                    # replace all the placeholders with our generated node
+                
+                # if that fails we must be stateful (which means we can't be inside a select() call)
+                except StatefulException:
+                    return RawFunction(f, args, kwargs)
+                
+                # clean up, replacing all the placeholders with our generated node
+                finally:
                     if no_args:
-                        replace_grammar_node(node, f._self_call_placeholder_, node)
+                        if node:
+                            replace_grammar_node(node, f._self_call_placeholder_, node)
                         del f._self_call_placeholder_
 
-                    return node
-
-            # otherwise must be stateful (which means we can't be inside a select() call)
-            except StatefulException:
-                return RawFunction(f, args, kwargs)
+                return node
 
         # Remove the first argument from the wrapped function
         signature = inspect.signature(f)