diff --git a/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/issue37479.go b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/issue37479.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a210eb5bc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/issue37479.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+//
+// +build ignore
+
+package main
+
+/*
+typedef struct A A;
+
+typedef struct {
+	struct A *next;
+	struct A **prev;
+} N;
+
+struct A
+{
+	N n;
+};
+
+typedef struct B
+{
+	A* a;
+} B;
+*/
+import "C"
+
+type N C.N
+
+type A C.A
+
+type B C.B
diff --git a/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/issue37621.go b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/issue37621.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d5ace3f6d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/issue37621.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+//
+// +build ignore
+
+package main
+
+/*
+struct tt {
+	long long a;
+	long long b;
+};
+
+struct s {
+	struct tt ts[3];
+};
+*/
+import "C"
+
+type TT C.struct_tt
+
+type S C.struct_s
diff --git a/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/main.go b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/main.go
index 1ce0fd0d1e..ef45b95e65 100644
--- a/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/main.go
+++ b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testdata/main.go
@@ -11,5 +11,13 @@ var v2 = v1.L
 // Test that P, Q, and R all point to byte.
 var v3 = Issue8478{P: (*byte)(nil), Q: (**byte)(nil), R: (***byte)(nil)}
 
+// Test that N, A and B are fully defined
+var v4 = N{}
+var v5 = A{}
+var v6 = B{}
+
+// Test that S is fully defined
+var v7 = S{}
+
 func main() {
 }
diff --git a/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testgodefs_test.go b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testgodefs_test.go
index c02c3ff0ac..438d23d65c 100644
--- a/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testgodefs_test.go
+++ b/misc/cgo/testgodefs/testgodefs_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ var filePrefixes = []string{
 	"anonunion",
 	"issue8478",
 	"fieldtypedef",
+	"issue37479",
+	"issue37621",
 }
 
 func TestGoDefs(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/src/cmd/cgo/gcc.go b/src/cmd/cgo/gcc.go
index fcab494ea0..c4128e9502 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cgo/gcc.go
+++ b/src/cmd/cgo/gcc.go
@@ -2243,7 +2243,7 @@ func (c *typeConv) loadType(dtype dwarf.Type, pos token.Pos, parent string) *Typ
 			// Translate to zero-length array instead.
 			count = 0
 		}
-		sub := c.loadType(dt.Type, pos, key)
+		sub := c.Type(dt.Type, pos)
 		t.Align = sub.Align
 		t.Go = &ast.ArrayType{
 			Len: c.intExpr(count),
@@ -2388,7 +2388,7 @@ func (c *typeConv) loadType(dtype dwarf.Type, pos token.Pos, parent string) *Typ
 		c.ptrs[key] = append(c.ptrs[key], t)
 
 	case *dwarf.QualType:
-		t1 := c.loadType(dt.Type, pos, key)
+		t1 := c.Type(dt.Type, pos)
 		t.Size = t1.Size
 		t.Align = t1.Align
 		t.Go = t1.Go
@@ -2472,7 +2472,13 @@ func (c *typeConv) loadType(dtype dwarf.Type, pos token.Pos, parent string) *Typ
 		}
 		name := c.Ident("_Ctype_" + dt.Name)
 		goIdent[name.Name] = name
-		sub := c.loadType(dt.Type, pos, key)
+		akey := ""
+		if c.anonymousStructTypedef(dt) {
+			// only load type recursively for typedefs of anonymous
+			// structs, see issues 37479 and 37621.
+			akey = key
+		}
+		sub := c.loadType(dt.Type, pos, akey)
 		if c.badPointerTypedef(dt) {
 			// Treat this typedef as a uintptr.
 			s := *sub
@@ -2993,6 +2999,13 @@ func fieldPrefix(fld []*ast.Field) string {
 	return prefix
 }
 
+// anonymousStructTypedef reports whether dt is a C typedef for an anonymous
+// struct.
+func (c *typeConv) anonymousStructTypedef(dt *dwarf.TypedefType) bool {
+	st, ok := dt.Type.(*dwarf.StructType)
+	return ok && st.StructName == ""
+}
+
 // badPointerTypedef reports whether t is a C typedef that should not be considered a pointer in Go.
 // A typedef is bad if C code sometimes stores non-pointers in this type.
 // TODO: Currently our best solution is to find these manually and list them as