Research combining Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and creole genesis has seen an increment in the past decades. If until recently both research areas were developing independently, more recent trends have attempted to bring them closer together, so as to understand to what extent each could inform the other, as is the case in Plag (2008), Siegel (2006; 2008), Lefebvre (2004), and Lumsden (1999), to mention just a few. Considering L2 learner language as an interlanguage with a specific system of its own, the aim of the present article is to contribute to this discussion by providing evidence of similarities between SLA and later stages of creole development (the post-creole continuum). The article looks at the use of standard Portuguese perfect preterite (PP) morphology among two groups of L2 speakers of Portuguese: (i) L1 Makista (the Macau Portuguese-based creole) speakers of Portuguese and (ii) L1 Chinese learners of Portuguese. Pinharanda Nunes (2012) has identified the lexifier verb morphology in Makista as evidence of late stage acquisition, resulting from the intensification of exposure to the lexifier. We compare data from a decreolization stage of Makista with data from advanced L2 learners of Portuguese in the quest to identify possible similarities and differences. Based on spoken data collected through sociolinguistic interviews from both groups of speakers, we analyze their use of Portuguese verb forms. From a variationist quantitative perspective, the current study takes into account both linguistic and non-linguistic variables through a VARBRUL analysis.