diff --git a/src/emu/debug/debugcmd.cpp b/src/emu/debug/debugcmd.cpp
index 76a6053477f9c..47836cd16cd1b 100644
--- a/src/emu/debug/debugcmd.cpp
+++ b/src/emu/debug/debugcmd.cpp
@@ -3930,7 +3930,7 @@ void debugger_commands::execute_symlist(const std::vector<std::string_view> &par
 	for (; symtable != nullptr; symtable = symtable->parent())
 	{
 		// Skip globals if user explicitly requested CPU
-		if (symtable->type() == symbol_table::BUILTIN_GLOBALS && !params.empty())
+		if (symtable->type() == symbol_table::DEBUGGER_GLOBALS && !params.empty())
 			continue;
 
 		if (symtable->entries().size() == 0)
@@ -3944,7 +3944,7 @@ void debugger_commands::execute_symlist(const std::vector<std::string_view> &par
 		case symbol_table::CPU_STATE:
 			m_console.printf("\n**** CPU '%s' symbols ****\n", cpu->tag());
 			break;
-		case symbol_table::BUILTIN_GLOBALS:
+		case symbol_table::DEBUGGER_GLOBALS:
 			m_console.printf("\n**** Global symbols ****\n");
 			break;
 		default:
diff --git a/src/emu/debug/debugcpu.cpp b/src/emu/debug/debugcpu.cpp
index c975bdd4471ed..f019946cf986b 100644
--- a/src/emu/debug/debugcpu.cpp
+++ b/src/emu/debug/debugcpu.cpp
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ debugger_cpu::debugger_cpu(running_machine &machine)
 	m_tempvar = make_unique_clear<u64[]>(NUM_TEMP_VARIABLES);
 
 	/* create a global symbol table */
-	m_symtable = std::make_unique<symbol_table>(machine, symbol_table::BUILTIN_GLOBALS);
+	m_symtable = std::make_unique<symbol_table>(machine, symbol_table::DEBUGGER_GLOBALS);
 	m_symtable->set_memory_modified_func([this]() { set_memory_modified(true); });
 
 	/* add "wpaddr", "wpdata", "wpsize" to the global symbol table */
diff --git a/src/emu/debug/express.h b/src/emu/debug/express.h
index 33ab9c3b472b9..5689137a56cc1 100644
--- a/src/emu/debug/express.h
+++ b/src/emu/debug/express.h
@@ -176,8 +176,10 @@ class symbol_table
 	enum table_type
 	{
 		CPU_STATE,         // CPU registers, etc.
-		BUILTIN_GLOBALS,   // Built-in MAME global symbols (e.g., beamx, beamy, frame, etc.)
-						   // (also used for tables outside debugger: lua scripts, cheat engine)
+		DEBUGGER_GLOBALS,  // Debugger global symbol table (e.g., beamx, beamy, frame, etc.)
+		CHEAT_ENTRY,       // symbols used in cheat entry actions (argindex, temp variables)
+		CHEAT_MANAGER,     // symbols from the cheat manager (frame value, from/tobcd functions)
+		LUA_SCRIPT,        // custom symbols added by a LUA script for use from the LUA script
 	};
 
 	// construction/destruction
diff --git a/src/frontend/mame/cheat.cpp b/src/frontend/mame/cheat.cpp
index 6e10f650328ed..c4a9106c3edbe 100644
--- a/src/frontend/mame/cheat.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/mame/cheat.cpp
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ void cheat_script::script_entry::output_argument::save(util::core_file &cheatfil
 
 cheat_entry::cheat_entry(cheat_manager &manager, symbol_table &globaltable, std::string const &filename, util::xml::data_node const &cheatnode)
 	: m_manager(manager)
-	, m_symbols(manager.machine(), symbol_table::BUILTIN_GLOBALS, &globaltable)
+	, m_symbols(manager.machine(), symbol_table::CHEAT_ENTRY, &globaltable)
 	, m_state(SCRIPT_STATE_OFF)
 	, m_numtemp(DEFAULT_TEMP_VARIABLES)
 	, m_argindex(0)
@@ -1065,7 +1065,7 @@ cheat_manager::cheat_manager(running_machine &machine)
 	, m_numlines(0)
 	, m_lastline(0)
 	, m_disabled(true)
-	, m_symtable(machine, symbol_table::BUILTIN_GLOBALS)
+	, m_symtable(machine, symbol_table::CHEAT_MANAGER)
 {
 	// if the cheat engine is disabled, we're done
 	if (!machine.options().cheat())
diff --git a/src/frontend/mame/luaengine_debug.cpp b/src/frontend/mame/luaengine_debug.cpp
index 992a9cc791a73..46e5742554942 100644
--- a/src/frontend/mame/luaengine_debug.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/mame/luaengine_debug.cpp
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class lua_engine::symbol_table_wrapper
 
 	symbol_table_wrapper(lua_engine &host, running_machine &machine, std::shared_ptr<symbol_table_wrapper> const &parent, device_t *device)
 		: m_host(host)
-		, m_table(machine, symbol_table::BUILTIN_GLOBALS, parent ? &parent->table() : nullptr, device)
+		, m_table(machine, symbol_table::LUA_SCRIPT, parent ? &parent->table() : nullptr, device)
 		, m_parent(parent)
 	{
 	}