diff --git a/src/codegen.cpp b/src/codegen.cpp
index 730f2695e0..87881ccaf3 100644
--- a/src/codegen.cpp
+++ b/src/codegen.cpp
@@ -3331,12 +3331,16 @@ static LLVMValueRef ir_render_bit_cast(CodeGen *g, IrExecutableGen *executable,
             LLVMPointerType(get_llvm_type(g, wanted_type), 0) : get_llvm_type(g, wanted_type);
         return LLVMBuildBitCast(g->builder, value, wanted_type_ref, "");
     } else if (actual_is_ptr) {
+        // A scalar is wanted but we got a pointer
         LLVMTypeRef wanted_ptr_type_ref = LLVMPointerType(get_llvm_type(g, wanted_type), 0);
         LLVMValueRef bitcasted_ptr = LLVMBuildBitCast(g->builder, value, wanted_ptr_type_ref, "");
         uint32_t alignment = get_abi_alignment(g, actual_type);
         return gen_load_untyped(g, bitcasted_ptr, alignment, false, "");
     } else {
-        zig_unreachable();
+        // A pointer is wanted but we got a scalar
+        assert(actual_type->id == ZigTypeIdPointer);
+        LLVMTypeRef wanted_ptr_type_ref = LLVMPointerType(get_llvm_type(g, wanted_type), 0);
+        return LLVMBuildBitCast(g->builder, value, wanted_ptr_type_ref, "");
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ir.cpp b/src/ir.cpp
index 0fcbc1be10..00bd83f95e 100644
--- a/src/ir.cpp
+++ b/src/ir.cpp
@@ -28878,8 +28878,11 @@ static IrInstGen *ir_analyze_bit_cast(IrAnalyze *ira, IrInst* source_instr, IrIn
     if ((err = type_resolve(ira->codegen, src_type, ResolveStatusSizeKnown)))
         return ira->codegen->invalid_inst_gen;
 
-    uint64_t dest_size_bytes = type_size(ira->codegen, dest_type);
-    uint64_t src_size_bytes = type_size(ira->codegen, src_type);
+    const bool src_is_ptr = handle_is_ptr(ira->codegen, src_type);
+    const bool dest_is_ptr = handle_is_ptr(ira->codegen, dest_type);
+
+    const uint64_t dest_size_bytes = type_size(ira->codegen, dest_type);
+    const uint64_t src_size_bytes = type_size(ira->codegen, src_type);
     if (dest_size_bytes != src_size_bytes) {
         ir_add_error(ira, source_instr,
             buf_sprintf("destination type '%s' has size %" ZIG_PRI_u64 " but source type '%s' has size %" ZIG_PRI_u64,
@@ -28888,8 +28891,8 @@ static IrInstGen *ir_analyze_bit_cast(IrAnalyze *ira, IrInst* source_instr, IrIn
         return ira->codegen->invalid_inst_gen;
     }
 
-    uint64_t dest_size_bits = type_size_bits(ira->codegen, dest_type);
-    uint64_t src_size_bits = type_size_bits(ira->codegen, src_type);
+    const uint64_t dest_size_bits = type_size_bits(ira->codegen, dest_type);
+    const uint64_t src_size_bits = type_size_bits(ira->codegen, src_type);
     if (dest_size_bits != src_size_bits) {
         ir_add_error(ira, source_instr,
             buf_sprintf("destination type '%s' has %" ZIG_PRI_u64 " bits but source type '%s' has %" ZIG_PRI_u64 " bits",
@@ -28911,6 +28914,11 @@ static IrInstGen *ir_analyze_bit_cast(IrAnalyze *ira, IrInst* source_instr, IrIn
         return result;
     }
 
+    if (dest_is_ptr && !src_is_ptr) {
+        // Spill the scalar into a local memory location and take its address
+        value = ir_get_ref(ira, source_instr, value, false, false);
+    }
+
     return ir_build_bit_cast_gen(ira, source_instr, value, dest_type);
 }
 
diff --git a/test/stage1/behavior/bitcast.zig b/test/stage1/behavior/bitcast.zig
index 2cc1026354..009f4544ba 100644
--- a/test/stage1/behavior/bitcast.zig
+++ b/test/stage1/behavior/bitcast.zig
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const expect = std.testing.expect;
+const expectEqual = std.testing.expectEqual;
 const maxInt = std.math.maxInt;
 
 test "@bitCast i32 -> u32" {
@@ -187,3 +188,9 @@ test "triple level result location with bitcast sandwich passed as tuple element
     };
     S.foo(.{@as(f64, @bitCast(f32, @as(u32, 0x414570A4)))});
 }
+
+test "bitcast generates a temporary value" {
+    var y = @as(u16, 0x55AA);
+    const x = @bitCast(u16, @bitCast([2]u8, y));
+    expectEqual(y, x);
+}