diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/dwarfgen/dwinl.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/dwarfgen/dwinl.go
index d5687cb1d7..8adb36fc88 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/dwarfgen/dwinl.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/dwarfgen/dwinl.go
@@ -247,7 +247,8 @@ func makePreinlineDclMap(fnsym *obj.LSym) map[varPos]int {
 			DeclCol:  pos.Col(),
 		}
 		if _, found := m[vp]; found {
-			base.Fatalf("child dcl collision on symbol %s within %v\n", n.Sym().Name, fnsym.Name)
+			// We can see collisions (variables with the same name/file/line/col) in obfuscated or machine-generated code -- see issue 44378 for an example. Skip duplicates in such cases, since it is unlikely that a human will be debugging such code.
+			continue
 		}
 		m[vp] = i
 	}
diff --git a/test/fixedbugs/issue44378.go b/test/fixedbugs/issue44378.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..58c88d573f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixedbugs/issue44378.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+// compile
+
+// 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.
+
+// This test case caused a panic in the compiler's DWARF gen code.
+
+// Note to future maintainers of this code:
+//
+//    ** Do NOT run gofmt when editing this file **
+//
+// In order for the buggy behavior to be triggered in the compiler,
+// we need to have a the function of interest all on one gigantic line.
+
+package a
+
+type O interface{}
+type IO int
+type OS int
+
+type A struct {
+	x int
+}
+
+// original versions of the two function
+func (p *A) UO(o O) {
+	p.r(o, o)
+}
+func (p *A) r(o1, o2 O) {
+	switch x := o1.(type) {
+	case *IO:
+		p.x = int(*x)
+	case *OS:
+		p.x = int(*x + 2)
+	}
+}
+
+// see note above about the importance of all this code winding up on one line.
+var myverylongname0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 int ; func (p *A) UO2(o O) { p.r2(o, o); }; func (p *A) r2(o1, o2 O) { switch x := o1.(type) { case *IO:	p.x = int(*x); 	case *OS: 	p.x = int(*x + 2); } }