diff --git a/Compiler/src/optimize.jl b/Compiler/src/optimize.jl
index 3532b2043d76f..458d30f4bcbe5 100644
--- a/Compiler/src/optimize.jl
+++ b/Compiler/src/optimize.jl
@@ -1245,8 +1245,7 @@ function convert_to_ircode(ci::CodeInfo, sv::OptimizationState)
             empty!(sv.cfg.blocks[block].succs)
 
             if !(idx < length(code) && isa(code[idx + 1], ReturnNode) && !isdefined((code[idx + 1]::ReturnNode), :val))
-                # Any statements from here to the end of the block have been wrapped in Core.Const(...)
-                # by type inference (effectively deleting them). Only task left is to replace the block
+                # Any statements from here to the end of the block are unreachable. Replace the block
                 # terminator with an explicit `unreachable` marker.
 
                 if block_end > idx
diff --git a/Compiler/src/ssair/slot2ssa.jl b/Compiler/src/ssair/slot2ssa.jl
index d9ea2539f0ffc..68961b671cc6e 100644
--- a/Compiler/src/ssair/slot2ssa.jl
+++ b/Compiler/src/ssair/slot2ssa.jl
@@ -638,10 +638,10 @@ function construct_ssa!(ci::CodeInfo, ir::IRCode, sv::OptimizationState,
         end
         phiblocks = iterated_dominance_frontier(cfg, live, domtree)
         for block in phiblocks
+            varstate = sv.bb_vartables[block]
+            varstate === nothing && continue
             push!(phi_slots[block], idx)
             node = PhiNode()
-            varstate = sv.bb_vartables[block]
-            @assert varstate !== nothing
             vt = varstate[idx]
             ssaval = NewSSAValue(insert_node!(ir,
                 first_insert_for_bb(code, cfg, block), NewInstruction(node, vt.typ)).id - length(ir.stmts))
diff --git a/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl b/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl
index dacde593fe1f2..96ce96ce49a26 100644
--- a/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl
+++ b/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl
@@ -870,9 +870,8 @@ function type_annotate!(interp::AbstractInterpreter, sv::InferenceState)
             if is_meta_expr(expr) # keep any lexically scoped expressions
                 ssavaluetypes[i] = Any # 3
             else
-                ssavaluetypes[i] = Bottom # 3
                 # annotate that this statement actually is dead
-                stmts[i] = Const(expr)
+                ssavaluetypes[i] = Bottom # 3
             end
         end
     end
diff --git a/Compiler/test/ssair.jl b/Compiler/test/ssair.jl
index a855439877f1b..44ef74b4b93a5 100644
--- a/Compiler/test/ssair.jl
+++ b/Compiler/test/ssair.jl
@@ -721,18 +721,18 @@ end
         return x
     end
     let
-        # At least some statements should have been found to be statically unreachable and wrapped in Const(...)::Union{}
+        # At least some statements should have been found to be statically unreachable
         unopt = code_typed1(f_with_maybe_nonbool_cond, (Int, Bool); optimize=false)
-        @test any(j -> isa(unopt.code[j], Core.Const) && unopt.ssavaluetypes[j] == Union{}, 1:length(unopt.code))
+        @test any(j -> unopt.ssavaluetypes[j] === Union{}, 1:length(unopt.code))
 
         # Any GotoIfNot destinations after IRCode conversion should not be statically unreachable
         ircode = first(only(Base.code_ircode(f_with_maybe_nonbool_cond, (Int, Bool); optimize_until="CC: CONVERT")))
         for i = 1:length(ircode.stmts)
             expr = ircode.stmts[i][:stmt]
             if isa(expr, GotoIfNot)
-                # If this statement is Core.Const(...)::Union{}, that means this code was not reached
-                @test !(isa(ircode.stmts[i+1][:stmt], Core.Const) && (unopt.ssavaluetypes[i+1] === Union{}))
-                @test !(isa(ircode.stmts[expr.dest][:stmt], Core.Const) && (unopt.ssavaluetypes[expr.dest] === Union{}))
+                # GotoIfNot branch destinations should not be unreachable
+                @test !(unopt.ssavaluetypes[i+1] === Union{})
+                @test !(unopt.ssavaluetypes[expr.dest] === Union{})
             end
         end
     end