diff --git a/compiler/ast2nif.nim b/compiler/ast2nif.nim
index 34eabd81cf..b91dc4956e 100644
--- a/compiler/ast2nif.nim
+++ b/compiler/ast2nif.nim
@@ -52,13 +52,14 @@ proc nifLineInfo(w: var LineInfoWriter; info: TLineInfo): PackedLineInfo =
     result = NoLineInfo
   else:
     let fid = get(w, info.fileIndex)
-    result = pack(w.man, fid, info.line.int32, info.col)
+    # Must use pool.man since toString uses pool.man to unpack
+    result = pack(pool.man, fid, info.line.int32, info.col)
 
 proc oldLineInfo(w: var LineInfoWriter; info: PackedLineInfo): TLineInfo =
   if info == NoLineInfo:
     result = unknownLineInfo
   else:
-    var x = unpack(w.man, info)
+    var x = unpack(pool.man, info)
     var fileIdx: FileIndex
     if w.fileV == x.file:
       fileIdx = w.fileK
diff --git a/compiler/main.nim b/compiler/main.nim
index 377c85b6e1..da6ae82ce7 100644
--- a/compiler/main.nim
+++ b/compiler/main.nim
@@ -420,8 +420,9 @@ proc mainCommand*(graph: ModuleGraph) =
   of cmdCheck:
     commandCheck(graph)
   of cmdM:
-    graph.config.symbolFiles = v2Sf
-    setUseIc(graph.config.symbolFiles != disabledSf)
+    # cmdM uses NIF files, not ROD files
+    graph.config.symbolFiles = disabledSf
+    setUseIc(false)
     commandCheck(graph)
   of cmdParse:
     wantMainModule(conf)
diff --git a/compiler/nim.nim b/compiler/nim.nim
index 005f11a580..319844c62d 100644
--- a/compiler/nim.nim
+++ b/compiler/nim.nim
@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ proc handleCmdLine(cache: IdentCache; conf: ConfigRef) =
   if conf.selectedGC == gcUnselected:
     if conf.backend in {backendC, backendCpp, backendObjc} or
         (conf.cmd in cmdDocLike and conf.backend != backendJs) or
-        conf.cmd == cmdGendepend:
+        conf.cmd == cmdGendepend or
+        conf.cmd == cmdM:
       initOrcDefines(conf)
 
   mainCommand(graph)
diff --git a/compiler/pipelines.nim b/compiler/pipelines.nim
index ac17160aa3..2ef0c60e22 100644
--- a/compiler/pipelines.nim
+++ b/compiler/pipelines.nim
@@ -38,7 +38,12 @@ proc processPipeline(graph: ModuleGraph; semNode: PNode; bModule: PPassContext):
   of GenDependPass:
     result = addDotDependency(bModule, semNode)
   of SemPass:
-    result = graph.emptyNode
+    # Return the semantic node for cmdM (NIF generation needs it)
+    # For regular check, we don't need the result
+    if graph.config.cmd == cmdM:
+      result = semNode
+    else:
+      result = graph.emptyNode
   of Docgen2Pass, Docgen2TexPass:
     when not defined(leanCompiler):
       result = processNode(bModule, semNode)
@@ -275,6 +280,7 @@ proc compilePipelineModule*(graph: ModuleGraph; fileIdx: FileIndex; flags: TSymF
           localError(graph.config, unknownLineInfo,
             "nim m requires precompiled NIF for import: " & toFullPath(graph.config, fileIdx) &
             " (expected: " & nifPath & ")")
+          return nil  # Don't fall through to compile from source
     if result == nil and graph.config.cmd != cmdM:
       # Fall back to ROD file loading (not used for cmdM which uses NIF only)
       result = moduleFromRodFile(graph, fileIdx, cachedModules)
@@ -358,6 +364,10 @@ proc compilePipelineProject*(graph: ModuleGraph; projectFileIdx = InvalidFileIdx
     graph.withinSystem = true
     discard graph.compilePipelineModule(projectFile, {sfMainModule, sfSystemModule})
     graph.withinSystem = false
+  elif graph.config.cmd == cmdM:
+    # For cmdM: load system.nim from NIF, don't recompile it
+    # The import mechanism will load it via moduleFromNifFile
+    discard graph.compilePipelineModule(projectFile, {sfMainModule})
   else:
     graph.compilePipelineSystemModule()
     discard graph.compilePipelineModule(projectFile, {sfMainModule})