diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py b/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py
index 3a934c21fd50..7ca0dcd5b615 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext.py
@@ -1802,8 +1802,11 @@ def __init__(self):
         def set_names_and_parse_actions():
             for key, val in vars(p).items():
                 if not key.startswith('_'):
-                    # Set names on everything -- very useful for debugging
-                    val.setName(key)
+                    # Set names on (almost) everything -- very useful for debugging
+                    # token, placeable, and auto_delim are forward references which
+                    # are left without names to ensure useful error messages
+                    if key not in ("token", "placeable", "auto_delim"):
+                        val.setName(key)
                     # Set actions
                     if hasattr(self, key):
                         val.setParseAction(getattr(self, key))