diff --git a/compiler/asserts.go b/compiler/asserts.go
index 6b254781..7aeb0fe0 100644
--- a/compiler/asserts.go
+++ b/compiler/asserts.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"go/token"
 	"go/types"
 
+	"golang.org/x/tools/go/ssa"
 	"tinygo.org/x/go-llvm"
 )
 
@@ -151,12 +152,20 @@ func (b *builder) createChanBoundsCheck(elementSize uint64, bufSize llvm.Value,
 // createNilCheck checks whether the given pointer is nil, and panics if it is.
 // It has no effect in well-behaved programs, but makes sure no uncaught nil
 // pointer dereferences exist in valid Go code.
-func (b *builder) createNilCheck(ptr llvm.Value, blockPrefix string) {
+func (b *builder) createNilCheck(inst ssa.Value, ptr llvm.Value, blockPrefix string) {
 	// Check whether we need to emit this check at all.
 	if !ptr.IsAGlobalValue().IsNil() {
 		return
 	}
 
+	switch inst.(type) {
+	case *ssa.IndexAddr:
+		// This pointer is the result of an index operation into a slice or
+		// array. Such slices/arrays are already bounds checked so the pointer
+		// must be a valid (non-nil) pointer. No nil checking is necessary.
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Compare against nil.
 	var isnil llvm.Value
 	if ptr.Type().PointerAddressSpace() == 0 {
diff --git a/compiler/compiler.go b/compiler/compiler.go
index 6a17da79..46dc70d8 100644
--- a/compiler/compiler.go
+++ b/compiler/compiler.go
@@ -1154,7 +1154,7 @@ func (b *builder) createInstruction(instr ssa.Instruction) {
 	case *ssa.Store:
 		llvmAddr := b.getValue(instr.Addr)
 		llvmVal := b.getValue(instr.Val)
-		b.createNilCheck(llvmAddr, "store")
+		b.createNilCheck(instr.Addr, llvmAddr, "store")
 		if b.targetData.TypeAllocSize(llvmVal.Type()) == 0 {
 			// nothing to store
 			return
@@ -1402,7 +1402,7 @@ func (b *builder) createFunctionCall(instr *ssa.CallCommon) (llvm.Value, error)
 		// This is a func value, which cannot be called directly. We have to
 		// extract the function pointer and context first from the func value.
 		callee, context = b.decodeFuncValue(value, instr.Value.Type().Underlying().(*types.Signature))
-		b.createNilCheck(callee, "fpcall")
+		b.createNilCheck(instr.Value, callee, "fpcall")
 	}
 
 	var params []llvm.Value
@@ -1548,7 +1548,7 @@ func (b *builder) createExpr(expr ssa.Value) (llvm.Value, error) {
 		// > For an operand x of type T, the address operation &x generates a
 		// > pointer of type *T to x. [...] If the evaluation of x would cause a
 		// > run-time panic, then the evaluation of &x does too.
-		b.createNilCheck(val, "gep")
+		b.createNilCheck(expr.X, val, "gep")
 		// Do a GEP on the pointer to get the field address.
 		indices := []llvm.Value{
 			llvm.ConstInt(b.ctx.Int32Type(), 0, false),
@@ -1596,7 +1596,7 @@ func (b *builder) createExpr(expr ssa.Value) (llvm.Value, error) {
 				// > generates a pointer of type *T to x. [...] If the
 				// > evaluation of x would cause a run-time panic, then the
 				// > evaluation of &x does too.
-				b.createNilCheck(bufptr, "gep")
+				b.createNilCheck(expr.X, bufptr, "gep")
 			default:
 				return llvm.Value{}, b.makeError(expr.Pos(), "todo: indexaddr: "+typ.String())
 			}
@@ -2588,7 +2588,7 @@ func (b *builder) createUnOp(unop *ssa.UnOp) (llvm.Value, error) {
 			}
 			return b.CreateBitCast(fn, b.i8ptrType, ""), nil
 		} else {
-			b.createNilCheck(x, "deref")
+			b.createNilCheck(unop.X, x, "deref")
 			load := b.CreateLoad(x, "")
 			return load, nil
 		}
diff --git a/compiler/volatile.go b/compiler/volatile.go
index d2e51c84..0c945874 100644
--- a/compiler/volatile.go
+++ b/compiler/volatile.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 // runtime/volatile.LoadT().
 func (b *builder) createVolatileLoad(instr *ssa.CallCommon) (llvm.Value, error) {
 	addr := b.getValue(instr.Args[0])
-	b.createNilCheck(addr, "deref")
+	b.createNilCheck(instr.Args[0], addr, "deref")
 	val := b.CreateLoad(addr, "")
 	val.SetVolatile(true)
 	return val, nil
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func (b *builder) createVolatileLoad(instr *ssa.CallCommon) (llvm.Value, error)
 func (b *builder) createVolatileStore(instr *ssa.CallCommon) (llvm.Value, error) {
 	addr := b.getValue(instr.Args[0])
 	val := b.getValue(instr.Args[1])
-	b.createNilCheck(addr, "deref")
+	b.createNilCheck(instr.Args[0], addr, "deref")
 	store := b.CreateStore(val, addr)
 	store.SetVolatile(true)
 	return llvm.Value{}, nil