diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/src/es2015_linker_plugin.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/src/es2015_linker_plugin.ts
index 17abf1ad3380f..11a647f0df416 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/src/es2015_linker_plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/src/es2015_linker_plugin.ts
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ function getCalleeName(call: NodePath<t.CallExpression>): string|null {
     return callee.name;
   } else if (t.isMemberExpression(callee) && t.isIdentifier(callee.property)) {
     return callee.property.name;
+  } else if (t.isMemberExpression(callee) && t.isStringLiteral(callee.property)) {
+    return callee.property.value;
   } else {
     return null;
   }
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/test/es2015_linker_plugin_spec.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/test/es2015_linker_plugin_spec.ts
index 31d17a7b8b553..92773e4a738e9 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/test/es2015_linker_plugin_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/linker/babel/test/es2015_linker_plugin_spec.ts
@@ -70,9 +70,10 @@ describe('createEs2015LinkerPlugin()', () => {
            [
              'var core;',
              `ɵɵngDeclareDirective({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, x: 1});`,
-             `ɵɵngDeclareComponent({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, foo: () => ɵɵngDeclareDirective({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, x: 2})});`,
+             `i0.ɵɵngDeclareComponent({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, foo: () => ɵɵngDeclareDirective({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, x: 2})});`,
              `x.qux(() => ɵɵngDeclareDirective({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, x: 3}));`,
              'spread(...x);',
+             `i0['ɵɵngDeclareDirective']({minVersion: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', version: '0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER', ngImport: core, x: 4});`,
            ].join('\n'),
            {
              plugins: [createEs2015LinkerPlugin({fileSystem, logger})],
@@ -93,7 +94,11 @@ describe('createEs2015LinkerPlugin()', () => {
          [
            'ɵɵngDeclareDirective',
            '{minVersion:\'0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER\',version:\'0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER\',ngImport:core,x:3}'
-         ]
+         ],
+         [
+           'ɵɵngDeclareDirective',
+           '{minVersion:\'0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER\',version:\'0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER\',ngImport:core,x:4}'
+         ],
        ]);
      });