diff --git a/src/check_expr.cpp b/src/check_expr.cpp
index 5185876e6..69f6bb855 100644
--- a/src/check_expr.cpp
+++ b/src/check_expr.cpp
@@ -1854,7 +1854,10 @@ gb_internal Entity *check_ident(CheckerContext *c, Operand *o, Ast *n, Type *nam
 			o->type = t_invalid;
 		}
 		if (o->type != nullptr && o->type->kind == Type_Named && o->type->Named.type_name->TypeName.is_type_alias) {
-			o->type = base_type(o->type);
+			Type *bt = base_type(o->type);
+			if (bt != nullptr) {
+				o->type = bt;
+			}
 		}
 
 		break;