diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/walk/order.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/walk/order.go
index dcb8f654f5..7037b8ea60 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/walk/order.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/walk/order.go
@@ -1592,12 +1592,26 @@ func (o *orderState) wrapGoDefer(n *ir.GoDeferStmt) {
 		return n.Esc() != ir.EscNever
 	}()
 
-	// A helper for making a copy of an argument.
+	// A helper for making a copy of an argument. Note that it is
+	// not safe to use o.copyExpr(arg) if we're putting a
+	// reference to the temp into the closure (as opposed to
+	// copying it in by value), since in the by-reference case we
+	// need a temporary whose lifetime extends to the end of the
+	// function (as opposed to being local to the current block or
+	// statement being ordered).
 	mkArgCopy := func(arg ir.Node) *ir.Name {
-		argCopy := o.copyExpr(arg)
+		t := arg.Type()
+		byval := t.Size() <= 128 || cloEscapes
+		var argCopy *ir.Name
+		if byval {
+			argCopy = o.copyExpr(arg)
+		} else {
+			argCopy = typecheck.Temp(t)
+			o.append(ir.NewAssignStmt(base.Pos, argCopy, arg))
+		}
 		// The value of 128 below is meant to be consistent with code
 		// in escape analysis that picks byval/byaddr based on size.
-		argCopy.SetByval(argCopy.Type().Size() <= 128 || cloEscapes)
+		argCopy.SetByval(byval)
 		return argCopy
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/abi/wrapdefer_largetmp.go b/test/abi/wrapdefer_largetmp.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fb6eebaaca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/abi/wrapdefer_largetmp.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+// run
+
+//go:build !wasm
+// +build !wasm
+
+// Copyright 2021 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.
+
+package main
+
+//go:noinline
+func F() {
+	b := g()
+	defer g2(b)
+	n := g()[20]
+	println(n)
+}
+
+type T [45]int
+
+var x = 0
+
+//go:noinline
+func g() T {
+	x++
+	return T{20: x}
+}
+
+//go:noinline
+func g2(t T) {
+	if t[20] != 1 {
+		println("FAIL", t[20])
+	}
+}
+
+func main() { F() }
diff --git a/test/abi/wrapdefer_largetmp.out b/test/abi/wrapdefer_largetmp.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0cfbf08886
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/abi/wrapdefer_largetmp.out
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2