diff --git a/src/Property.hs b/src/Property.hs
index a6970f73..4e674e99 100644
--- a/src/Property.hs
+++ b/src/Property.hs
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE PatternGuards #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE LambdaCase #-}
 module Property (
   runProperty
 , PropertyResult (..)
 #ifdef TEST
-, freeVariables
+, PropertyType (..)
+, propertyType
 , parseNotInScope
 #endif
 ) where
@@ -17,6 +19,7 @@ import           Util
 import           Interpreter (Interpreter)
 import qualified Interpreter
 import           Parse
+import           Runner.Example
 
 -- | The result of evaluating an interaction.
 data PropertyResult =
@@ -25,14 +28,38 @@ data PropertyResult =
   | Error String
   deriving (Eq, Show)
 
+-- | The type (not in the "type system" sense) of a property
+data PropertyType = Simple | QuickCheck [String] | Unknown
+  deriving (Eq, Show)
+
 runProperty :: Interpreter -> Expression -> IO PropertyResult
 runProperty repl expression = do
+  propertyType repl expression >>= \case
+    Simple -> runSimpleProperty repl expression
+    QuickCheck vs -> runQuickCheckProperty repl expression vs
+    Unknown -> runQuickCheckProperty repl expression []
+
+-- | Run a property with no free variables (that is, no QuickCheck
+-- required).
+runSimpleProperty :: Interpreter -> Expression -> IO PropertyResult
+runSimpleProperty repl expression = do
+  r <- fmap lines `fmap` Interpreter.safeEval repl expression
+  case r of
+    Left err -> return (Error err)
+    Right actual -> case mkResult expected actual of
+      NotEqual err -> return $ Failure (unlines err)
+      Equal -> return Success
+  where
+    expected = [ExpectedLine [LineChunk "True"]]
+
+-- | Run a property with one or more free variables using QuickCheck.
+runQuickCheckProperty :: Interpreter -> Expression -> [String] -> IO PropertyResult
+runQuickCheckProperty repl expression vs = do
   _ <- Interpreter.safeEval repl "import Test.QuickCheck ((==>))"
   _ <- Interpreter.safeEval repl "import Test.QuickCheck.All (polyQuickCheck)"
   _ <- Interpreter.safeEval repl "import Language.Haskell.TH (mkName)"
   _ <- Interpreter.safeEval repl ":set -XTemplateHaskell"
-  r <- freeVariables repl expression >>=
-       (Interpreter.safeEval repl . quickCheck expression)
+  r <- Interpreter.safeEval repl $ quickCheck expression vs
   case r of
     Left err -> do
       return (Error err)
@@ -46,13 +73,23 @@ runProperty repl expression = do
       "let doctest_prop " ++ unwords vars ++ " = " ++ term ++ "\n" ++
       "$(polyQuickCheck (mkName \"doctest_prop\"))"
 
--- | Find all free variables in given term.
+
+-- | Determing what type of property a term corresponds to.
+--
+-- GHCi is used to determing the type.
 --
--- GHCi is used to detect free variables.
-freeVariables :: Interpreter -> String -> IO [String]
-freeVariables repl term = do
+-- If the type is Bool the property is simple and does not need QuickCheck.
+--
+-- Otherwise we assume QuickCheck will be needed. If GHCi reported any free
+-- variables they are extracted for passing to QuickCheck.
+propertyType :: Interpreter -> String -> IO PropertyType
+propertyType repl term = do
   r <- Interpreter.safeEval repl (":type " ++ term)
-  return (either (const []) (nub . parseNotInScope) r)
+  case r of
+    Left _ -> return Unknown
+    Right s -> if " :: Bool\n" `isSuffixOf` s
+      then return Simple
+      else return $ QuickCheck (parseNotInScope s)
 
 -- | Parse and return all variables that are not in scope from a ghc error
 -- message.
diff --git a/test/PropertySpec.hs b/test/PropertySpec.hs
index 29c934f8..575aed23 100644
--- a/test/PropertySpec.hs
+++ b/test/PropertySpec.hs
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ spec :: Spec
 spec = do
   describe "runProperty" $ do
     it "reports a failing property" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
-      runProperty repl "False" `shouldReturn` Failure "*** Failed! Falsified (after 1 test):"
+      runProperty repl "const False (x :: Int)" `shouldReturn` Failure "*** Failed! Falsified (after 1 test):\n0"
+
+    it "reports a failing simple property" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
+      runProperty repl "False" `shouldReturn` Failure "expected: True\n but got: False\n"
 
     it "runs a Bool property" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
       runProperty repl "True" `shouldReturn` Success
@@ -58,21 +61,27 @@ spec = do
     it "defaults ambiguous type variables to Integer" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
       runProperty repl "reverse xs == xs" >>= (`shouldSatisfy` isFailure)
 
-  describe "freeVariables" $ do
-    it "finds a free variables in a term" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
-      freeVariables repl "x" `shouldReturn` ["x"]
+  describe "propertyType" $ do
+    it "finds free variables in a term" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
+      propertyType repl "x" `shouldReturn` QuickCheck ["x"]
 
     it "ignores duplicates" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
-      freeVariables repl "x == x" `shouldReturn` ["x"]
+      propertyType repl "x == x" `shouldReturn` QuickCheck ["x"]
 
     it "works for terms with multiple names" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
-      freeVariables repl "\\z -> x + y + z == foo 23" `shouldReturn` ["x", "y", "foo"]
+      propertyType repl "\\z -> x + y + z == foo 23" `shouldReturn` QuickCheck ["x", "y", "foo"]
 
     it "works for names that contain a prime" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
-      freeVariables repl "x' == y''" `shouldReturn` ["x'", "y''"]
+      propertyType repl "x' == y''" `shouldReturn` QuickCheck ["x'", "y''"]
 
     it "works for names that are similar to other names that are in scope" $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
-      freeVariables repl "length_" `shouldReturn` ["length_"]
+      propertyType repl "length_" `shouldReturn` QuickCheck ["length_"]
+
+    it "identifies simple properties without free variables"  $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
+      propertyType repl "True" `shouldReturn` Simple
+
+    it "identifies QuickCheck properties without free variables"  $ withInterpreter [] $ \repl -> do
+      propertyType repl "Just True" `shouldReturn` QuickCheck []
 
   describe "parseNotInScope" $ do
     context "when error message was produced by GHC 7.4.1" $ do