diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 7638c97c..195442fd 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -57,13 +57,13 @@ github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 h1:CcVxjf3Q8PM0mHUKJCdn+eZZtm5yQwehR5yeSVQQcU
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4/go.mod h1:sz/lmYIOXD/1dqDmKjjqLyZ2RngseejIcXlSw2iwfAo=
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.0 h1:BojcDhfyDWgU2f2TOzYK/g5p2gxMrku8oupLDqlnSqE=
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v1.1.0/go.mod h1:GBR0iDaNXjAgGg9zfCvksxSRnQx76gclCIb7kdAd1Pw=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.13.0 h1:mvySKfSWJ+UKUii46M40LOvyWfN0s2U+46/jDd0e6Ck=
-golang.org/x/net v0.15.0 h1:ugBLEUaxABaB5AJqW9enI0ACdci2RUd4eP51NTBvuJ8=
-golang.org/x/net v0.15.0/go.mod h1:idbUs1IY1+zTqbi8yxTbhexhEEk5ur9LInksu6HrEpk=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.14.0 h1:wBqGXzWJW6m1XrIKlAH0Hs1JJ7+9KBwnIO8v66Q9cHc=
+golang.org/x/net v0.17.0 h1:pVaXccu2ozPjCXewfr1S7xza/zcXTity9cCdXQYSjIM=
+golang.org/x/net v0.17.0/go.mod h1:NxSsAGuq816PNPmqtQdLE42eU2Fs7NoRIZrHJAlaCOE=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220811171246-fbc7d0a398ab/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.12.0 h1:CM0HF96J0hcLAwsHPJZjfdNzs0gftsLfgKt57wWHJ0o=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.12.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0 h1:Af8nKPmuFypiUBjVoU9V20FiaFXOcuZI21p0ycVYYGE=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/text v0.13.0 h1:ablQoSUd0tRdKxZewP80B+BaqeKJuVhuRxj/dkrun3k=
 golang.org/x/text v0.13.0/go.mod h1:TvPlkZtksWOMsz7fbANvkp4WM8x/WCo/om8BMLbz+aE=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20220907171357-04be3eba64a2 h1:H2TDz8ibqkAF6YGhCdN3jS9O0/s90v0rJh3X/OLHEUk=
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_lua.go b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_lua.go
index 0afc2cea..b600371d 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_lua.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_lua.go
@@ -306,22 +306,25 @@ func (le *luaEncoder) encodeAny(writer io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error {
 	}
 }
 
-func (le *luaEncoder) Encode(writer io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error {
-	if !le.globals && node.Parent == nil {
-		err := writeString(writer, le.docPrefix)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
-	if err := le.encodeAny(writer, node); err != nil {
+func (le *luaEncoder) encodeTopLevel(writer io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error {
+	err := writeString(writer, le.docPrefix)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
-	if !le.globals && node.Parent == nil {
-		err := writeString(writer, le.docSuffix)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+	err = le.encodeAny(writer, node)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	return nil
+	return writeString(writer, le.docSuffix)
+}
+
+func (le *luaEncoder) Encode(writer io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error {
+
+	if le.globals {
+		if node.Kind != MappingNode {
+			return fmt.Errorf("--lua-global requires a top level MappingNode")
+		}
+		return le.encodeMap(writer, node, true)
+	}
+	return le.encodeTopLevel(writer, node)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/lua_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/lua_test.go
index f896047e..bb36e9cc 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/lua_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/lua_test.go
@@ -11,47 +11,47 @@ import (
 )
 
 var luaScenarios = []formatScenario{
-	// 	{
-	// 		description: "Basic input example",
-	// 		input: `return {
-	// 	["country"] = "Australia"; -- this place
-	// 	["cities"] = {
-	// 		"Sydney",
-	// 		"Melbourne",
-	// 		"Brisbane",
-	// 		"Perth",
-	// 	};
-	// };
-	// `,
-	// 		expected: `country: Australia
-	// cities:
-	//     - Sydney
-	//     - Melbourne
-	//     - Brisbane
-	//     - Perth
-	// `,
-	// 	},
-	// 	{
-	// 		description:  "Basic output example",
-	// 		scenarioType: "encode",
-	// 		input: `---
-	// country: Australia # this place
-	// cities:
-	// - Sydney
-	// - Melbourne
-	// - Brisbane
-	// - Perth`,
-	// 		expected: `return {
-	// 	["country"] = "Australia"; -- this place
-	// 	["cities"] = {
-	// 		"Sydney",
-	// 		"Melbourne",
-	// 		"Brisbane",
-	// 		"Perth",
-	// 	};
-	// };
-	// `,
-	// 	},
+	{
+		description: "Basic input example",
+		input: `return {
+	["country"] = "Australia"; -- this place
+	["cities"] = {
+		"Sydney",
+		"Melbourne",
+		"Brisbane",
+		"Perth",
+	};
+};
+`,
+		expected: `country: Australia
+cities:
+    - Sydney
+    - Melbourne
+    - Brisbane
+    - Perth
+`,
+	},
+	{
+		description:  "Basic output example",
+		scenarioType: "encode",
+		input: `---
+country: Australia # this place
+cities:
+- Sydney
+- Melbourne
+- Brisbane
+- Perth`,
+		expected: `return {
+	["country"] = "Australia"; -- this place
+	["cities"] = {
+		"Sydney",
+		"Melbourne",
+		"Brisbane",
+		"Perth",
+	};
+};
+`,
+	},
 	{
 		description:  "Basic roundtrip",
 		skipDoc:      true,