diff --git a/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/interpret/projection.rs b/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/interpret/projection.rs
index bd60e066f72..3a441c1d649 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/interpret/projection.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/interpret/projection.rs
@@ -201,25 +201,8 @@ where
         // see https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/93688#issuecomment-1032929496.)
         // So we just "offset" by 0.
         let layout = base.layout().for_variant(self, variant);
-        // In the future we might want to allow this to permit code like this:
-        // (this is a Rust/MIR pseudocode mix)
-        // ```
-        // enum Option2 {
-        //   Some(i32, !),
-        //   None,
-        // }
-        //
-        // fn panic() -> ! { panic!() }
-        //
-        // let x: Option2;
-        // x.Some.0 = 42;
-        // x.Some.1 = panic();
-        // SetDiscriminant(x, Some);
-        // ```
-        // However, for now we don't generate such MIR, and this check here *has* found real
-        // bugs (see https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/115145), so we will keep rejecting
-        // it.
-        assert!(!layout.abi.is_uninhabited());
+        // This variant may in fact be uninhabited.
+        // See <https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/120337>.
 
         // This cannot be `transmute` as variants *can* have a smaller size than the entire enum.
         base.offset(Size::ZERO, layout, self)
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_middle/src/mir/syntax.rs b/compiler/rustc_middle/src/mir/syntax.rs
index a5c229879a7..a4b6c4f9c3f 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_middle/src/mir/syntax.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_middle/src/mir/syntax.rs
@@ -1074,6 +1074,8 @@ pub enum ProjectionElem<V, T> {
     /// "Downcast" to a variant of an enum or a coroutine.
     ///
     /// The included Symbol is the name of the variant, used for printing MIR.
+    ///
+    /// This operation itself is never UB, all it does is change the type of the place.
     Downcast(Option<Symbol>, VariantIdx),
 
     /// Like an explicit cast from an opaque type to a concrete type, but without
diff --git a/src/tools/miri/tests/pass/issues/issue-120337-irrefutable-let-ice.rs b/src/tools/miri/tests/pass/issues/issue-120337-irrefutable-let-ice.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5af0d0e4bbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tools/miri/tests/pass/issues/issue-120337-irrefutable-let-ice.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Validation stops the test before the ICE we used to hit
+//@compile-flags: -Zmiri-disable-validation
+
+#![feature(never_type)]
+#[derive(Copy, Clone)]
+pub enum E {
+    A(!),
+}
+pub union U {
+    u: (),
+    e: E,
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let E::A(ref _a) = unsafe { &(&U { u: () }).e };
+}
diff --git a/tests/ui/consts/let-irrefutable-pattern-ice-120337.rs b/tests/ui/consts/let-irrefutable-pattern-ice-120337.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7da6b7ca285
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui/consts/let-irrefutable-pattern-ice-120337.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// check-pass
+#![feature(never_type)]
+#[derive(Copy, Clone)]
+pub enum E { A(!), }
+pub union U { u: (), e: E, }
+pub const C: () = {
+    let E::A(ref a) = unsafe { &(&U { u: () }).e};
+};
+
+fn main() {}