diff --git a/base/essentials.jl b/base/essentials.jl
index 607ce44b39361..5ee35325b0832 100644
--- a/base/essentials.jl
+++ b/base/essentials.jl
@@ -382,8 +382,20 @@ default_access_order(a::GenericMemory{:atomic}) = :monotonic
 default_access_order(a::GenericMemoryRef{:not_atomic}) = :not_atomic
 default_access_order(a::GenericMemoryRef{:atomic}) = :monotonic
 
-getindex(A::GenericMemory, i::Int) = (@_noub_if_noinbounds_meta;
-    memoryrefget(memoryrefnew(memoryrefnew(A), i, @_boundscheck), default_access_order(A), false))
+function getindex(A::GenericMemory, i::Int)
+    @_noub_if_noinbounds_meta
+    @_effect_free_terminates_locally_meta
+    elt = eltype(A)
+    if (Any <: elt) || (isconcretetype(elt) && isbitstype(elt))
+        @boundscheck checkbounds(A, i)
+        let ptr = pointer(A), ord = Base.default_access_order(A)
+            GC.@preserve A unsafe_load(ptr, i, ord)
+        end
+    else
+        memoryrefget(memoryrefnew(memoryrefnew(A), i, @_boundscheck), default_access_order(A), false)
+    end
+end
+
 getindex(A::GenericMemoryRef) = memoryrefget(A, default_access_order(A), @_boundscheck)
 
 """