Index: gcc/fortran/trans-array.c
===================================================================
*** gcc/fortran/trans-array.c	(revision 264486)
--- gcc/fortran/trans-array.c	(working copy)
*************** gfc_alloc_allocatable_for_assignment (gf
*** 9950,9956 ****
      {
        if (expr2->ts.deferred)
  	{
! 	  if (VAR_P (expr2->ts.u.cl->backend_decl))
  	    tmp = expr2->ts.u.cl->backend_decl;
  	  else
  	    tmp = rss->info->string_length;
--- 9950,9957 ----
      {
        if (expr2->ts.deferred)
  	{
! 	  if (expr2->ts.u.cl->backend_decl
! 	      && VAR_P (expr2->ts.u.cl->backend_decl))
  	    tmp = expr2->ts.u.cl->backend_decl;
  	  else
  	    tmp = rss->info->string_length;
Index: gcc/testsuite/gfortran.dg/deferred_character_23.f90
===================================================================
*** gcc/testsuite/gfortran.dg/deferred_character_23.f90	(nonexistent)
--- gcc/testsuite/gfortran.dg/deferred_character_23.f90	(working copy)
***************
*** 0 ****
--- 1,22 ----
+ ! { dg-do run }
+ !
+ ! Tests the fix for PR85603.
+ !
+ ! Contributed by Walt Spector  <w6ws@earthlink.net>
+ !
+ program strlen_bug
+   implicit none
+ 
+   character(:), allocatable :: strings(:)
+   integer :: maxlen
+ 
+   strings = [ character(32) ::  &
+       'short',  &
+       'somewhat longer' ]
+   maxlen = maxval (len_trim (strings))
+   if (maxlen .ne. 15) stop 1
+   strings = strings(:)(:maxlen) ! Used to ICE
+   if (any (strings .ne. ['short          ','somewhat longer'])) stop 2
+ 
+   deallocate (strings)          ! To check for memory leaks
+ end program