diff --git a/gcc/fortran/trans-array.cc b/gcc/fortran/trans-array.cc
index e1725808033..3d90a02cdac 100644
--- a/gcc/fortran/trans-array.cc
+++ b/gcc/fortran/trans-array.cc
@@ -7934,8 +7934,12 @@ gfc_conv_expr_descriptor (gfc_se *se, gfc_expr *expr)
 	  else
 	    tmp = se->string_length;
 
-	  if (expr->ts.deferred && VAR_P (expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl))
-	    gfc_add_modify (&se->pre, expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl, tmp);
+	  if (expr->ts.deferred && expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl
+	      && VAR_P (expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl))
+	    {
+	      if (expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl != tmp)
+	        gfc_add_modify (&se->pre, expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl, tmp);
+	    }
 	  else
 	    expr->ts.u.cl->backend_decl = tmp;
 	}
diff --git a/gcc/fortran/trans-io.cc b/gcc/fortran/trans-io.cc
index 9b54d2f0d31..67658769b9e 100644
--- a/gcc/fortran/trans-io.cc
+++ b/gcc/fortran/trans-io.cc
@@ -2620,9 +2620,13 @@ gfc_trans_transfer (gfc_code * code)
 	  gcc_assert (ref && ref->type == REF_ARRAY);
 	}
 
+      /* These expressions don't always have the dtype element length set
+	 correctly, rendering them useless for array transfer.  */
       if (expr->ts.type != BT_CLASS
 	 && expr->expr_type == EXPR_VARIABLE
 	 && ((expr->symtree->n.sym->ts.type == BT_DERIVED && expr->ts.deferred)
+	     || (expr->symtree->n.sym->assoc
+		 && expr->symtree->n.sym->assoc->variable)
 	     || gfc_expr_attr (expr).pointer))
 	goto scalarize;