diff --git a/compiler/transf.nim b/compiler/transf.nim
index 7fe6c63b9ebd..c712561e84eb 100644
--- a/compiler/transf.nim
+++ b/compiler/transf.nim
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ proc transformAddrDeref(c: PTransf, n: PNode, kinds: TNodeKinds, isAddr = false)
           n.typ.kind == tyVar and
           n.typ.skipTypes(abstractVar).kind == tyOpenArray and
           n[0][0].typ.skipTypes(abstractVar).kind == tyString) and
-          not (n.typ.kind == tyVar and n[0][0].typ.kind == tyRef)
+          not (isAddr and n.typ.kind == tyVar and n[0][0].typ.kind == tyRef)
         : # elimination is harmful to `for tuple unpack` because of newTupleAccess
           # it is also harmful to openArrayLoc (var openArray) for strings
       # addr ( deref ( x )) --> x