diff --git a/src/options.js b/src/options.js
index a655888ed7..b61e0e526e 100644
--- a/src/options.js
+++ b/src/options.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export function valueof(data, value, arrayType) {
     : type === "function" ? array.from(data, value)
     : type === "number" || value instanceof Date || type === "boolean" ? array.from(data, constant(value))
     : value && typeof value.transform === "function" ? arrayify(value.transform(data), arrayType)
+    : value && value.alias !== undefined ? value // TODO cleaner?
     : arrayify(value, arrayType); // preserve undefined type
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plot.js b/src/plot.js
index 8e7ed9e028..8a4fc7c11f 100644
--- a/src/plot.js
+++ b/src/plot.js
@@ -37,9 +37,11 @@ export function plot(options = {}) {
   for (const mark of marks) {
     if (markChannels.has(mark)) throw new Error("duplicate mark");
     const {index, channels} = mark.initialize();
-    for (const [, channel] of channels) {
-      const {scale} = channel;
-      if (scale !== undefined) {
+    for (const [name, channel] of channels) {
+      const {value, scale} = channel;
+      if (value && value.alias !== undefined) {
+        channel.value = markChannels.get(value.alias).find(([n]) => name === n)[1].value; // TODO handle errors
+      } else if (scale !== undefined) {
         const scaled = scaleChannels.get(scale);
         const {percent, transform = percent ? x => x * 100 : undefined} = options[scale] || {};
         if (transform != null) channel.value = Array.from(channel.value, transform);
diff --git a/test/plots/covid-ihme-projected-deaths.js b/test/plots/covid-ihme-projected-deaths.js
index 560ab55b46..3db6aea418 100644
--- a/test/plots/covid-ihme-projected-deaths.js
+++ b/test/plots/covid-ihme-projected-deaths.js
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ import * as d3 from "d3";
 export default async function() {
   const data = await d3.csv("data/covid-ihme-projected-deaths.csv", d3.autoType);
   const i = data.findIndex(d => d.projected) - 1;
+  const dot = Plot.dot([data[i]], {
+    x: "date",
+    y: "mean",
+    fill: "currentColor"
+  });
   return Plot.plot({
     width: 960,
     height: 600,
@@ -32,14 +37,10 @@ export default async function() {
         title: () => "projected values",
         strokeDasharray: "2,2"
       }),
-      Plot.dot([data[i]], {
-        x: "date",
-        y: "mean",
-        fill: "currentColor"
-      }),
-      Plot.text([data[i]], {
-        x: "date",
-        y: "mean",
+      dot,
+      Plot.text(dot.data, {
+        x: {alias: dot},
+        y: {alias: dot},
         text: "mean",
         textAnchor: "start",
         dx: 6