diff --git a/xls/contrib/xlscc/translator.cc b/xls/contrib/xlscc/translator.cc
index 7efb968835..3bff1fb550 100644
--- a/xls/contrib/xlscc/translator.cc
+++ b/xls/contrib/xlscc/translator.cc
@@ -1750,6 +1750,10 @@ absl::StatusOr<CValue> Translator::CreateInitValue(
 
   if (initializer != nullptr) {
     LValueModeGuard lvalue_mode(*this);
+    XLS_ASSIGN_OR_RETURN(bool lvalue_result, ctype->ContainsLValues(*this));
+    if (!lvalue_result) {
+      context().lvalue_mode = false;
+    }
 
     XLS_ASSIGN_OR_RETURN(CValue cv, GenerateIR_Expr(initializer, loc));
 
@@ -4830,7 +4834,15 @@ absl::StatusOr<CValue> Translator::GenerateIR_Expr(const clang::Expr* expr,
     // Implicit dereference
     if (arr_val.type()->Is<CPointerType>()) {
       XLSCC_CHECK_NE(arr_val.lvalue(), nullptr, loc);
+      CValue arr_val_orig = arr_val;
+
       XLS_ASSIGN_OR_RETURN(arr_val, GenerateIR_Expr(arr_val.lvalue(), loc));
+
+      if (!arr_val.type()->Is<CArrayType>()) {
+        return absl::UnimplementedError(ErrorMessage(
+            loc, "Dereference didn't yield an array type, but %s from %s",
+            std::string(*arr_val.type()), std::string(*arr_val_orig.type())));
+      }
     }
 
     XLS_ASSIGN_OR_RETURN(CValue index_bval,
diff --git a/xls/contrib/xlscc/unit_tests/translator_pointer_test.cc b/xls/contrib/xlscc/unit_tests/translator_pointer_test.cc
index 06bdc0330f..10ca03ff8c 100644
--- a/xls/contrib/xlscc/unit_tests/translator_pointer_test.cc
+++ b/xls/contrib/xlscc/unit_tests/translator_pointer_test.cc
@@ -37,12 +37,23 @@ TEST_F(TranslatorPointerTest, ToArraySubscript) {
   const std::string content = R"(
     int my_package() {
 	    int arr[10] = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10};
-      int*a = &arr[10];
+      int*a = &arr[9];
       return a[0];
     })";
   Run({}, 10, content);
 }
 
+TEST_F(TranslatorPointerTest, ToArraySubscript2) {
+  const std::string content = R"(
+    int my_package() {
+	    int arr[10] = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10};
+      int*a = &arr[9];
+      int b = a[0];
+      return b;
+    })";
+  Run({}, 10, content);
+}
+
 TEST_F(TranslatorPointerTest, AssignToPointer) {
   const std::string content = R"(
     int my_package() {