diff --git a/src/concurrency/data_race.rs b/src/concurrency/data_race.rs
index 6ea87a82cb9..65f198f3c9d 100644
--- a/src/concurrency/data_race.rs
+++ b/src/concurrency/data_race.rs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 use rustc_data_structures::fx::{FxHashMap, FxHashSet};
 use rustc_index::vec::{Idx, IndexVec};
 use rustc_middle::{mir, ty::layout::TyAndLayout};
-use rustc_target::abi::Size;
+use rustc_target::abi::{Align, Size};
 
 use crate::*;
 
@@ -463,6 +463,22 @@ fn write_scalar_at_offset_atomic(
         this.write_scalar_atomic(value.into(), &value_place, atomic)
     }
 
+    /// Checks that an atomic access is legal at the given place.
+    fn atomic_access_check(&self, place: &MPlaceTy<'tcx, Provenance>) -> InterpResult<'tcx> {
+        let this = self.eval_context_ref();
+        // Check alignment requirements. Atomics must always be aligned to their size,
+        // even if the type they wrap would be less aligned (e.g. AtomicU64 on 32bit must
+        // be 8-aligned).
+        let align = Align::from_bytes(place.layout.size.bytes()).unwrap();
+        this.check_ptr_access_align(
+            place.ptr,
+            place.layout.size,
+            align,
+            CheckInAllocMsg::MemoryAccessTest,
+        )?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Perform an atomic read operation at the memory location.
     fn read_scalar_atomic(
         &self,
@@ -470,6 +486,7 @@ fn read_scalar_atomic(
         atomic: AtomicReadOrd,
     ) -> InterpResult<'tcx, ScalarMaybeUninit<Provenance>> {
         let this = self.eval_context_ref();
+        this.atomic_access_check(place)?;
         // This will read from the last store in the modification order of this location. In case
         // weak memory emulation is enabled, this may not be the store we will pick to actually read from and return.
         // This is fine with StackedBorrow and race checks because they don't concern metadata on
@@ -490,6 +507,8 @@ fn write_scalar_atomic(
         atomic: AtomicWriteOrd,
     ) -> InterpResult<'tcx> {
         let this = self.eval_context_mut();
+        this.atomic_access_check(dest)?;
+
         this.validate_overlapping_atomic(dest)?;
         this.allow_data_races_mut(move |this| this.write_scalar(val, &dest.into()))?;
         this.validate_atomic_store(dest, atomic)?;
@@ -511,6 +530,7 @@ fn atomic_op_immediate(
         atomic: AtomicRwOrd,
     ) -> InterpResult<'tcx, ImmTy<'tcx, Provenance>> {
         let this = self.eval_context_mut();
+        this.atomic_access_check(place)?;
 
         this.validate_overlapping_atomic(place)?;
         let old = this.allow_data_races_mut(|this| this.read_immediate(&place.into()))?;
@@ -540,6 +560,7 @@ fn atomic_exchange_scalar(
         atomic: AtomicRwOrd,
     ) -> InterpResult<'tcx, ScalarMaybeUninit<Provenance>> {
         let this = self.eval_context_mut();
+        this.atomic_access_check(place)?;
 
         this.validate_overlapping_atomic(place)?;
         let old = this.allow_data_races_mut(|this| this.read_scalar(&place.into()))?;
@@ -561,6 +582,7 @@ fn atomic_min_max_scalar(
         atomic: AtomicRwOrd,
     ) -> InterpResult<'tcx, ImmTy<'tcx, Provenance>> {
         let this = self.eval_context_mut();
+        this.atomic_access_check(place)?;
 
         this.validate_overlapping_atomic(place)?;
         let old = this.allow_data_races_mut(|this| this.read_immediate(&place.into()))?;
@@ -604,6 +626,7 @@ fn atomic_compare_exchange_scalar(
     ) -> InterpResult<'tcx, Immediate<Provenance>> {
         use rand::Rng as _;
         let this = self.eval_context_mut();
+        this.atomic_access_check(place)?;
 
         this.validate_overlapping_atomic(place)?;
         // Failure ordering cannot be stronger than success ordering, therefore first attempt
@@ -1016,6 +1039,7 @@ trait EvalContextPrivExt<'mir, 'tcx: 'mir>: MiriEvalContextExt<'mir, 'tcx> {
     fn allow_data_races_ref<R>(&self, op: impl FnOnce(&MiriEvalContext<'mir, 'tcx>) -> R) -> R {
         let this = self.eval_context_ref();
         if let Some(data_race) = &this.machine.data_race {
+            assert!(!data_race.ongoing_action_data_race_free.get(), "cannot nest allow_data_races");
             data_race.ongoing_action_data_race_free.set(true);
         }
         let result = op(this);
@@ -1035,6 +1059,7 @@ fn allow_data_races_mut<R>(
     ) -> R {
         let this = self.eval_context_mut();
         if let Some(data_race) = &this.machine.data_race {
+            assert!(!data_race.ongoing_action_data_race_free.get(), "cannot nest allow_data_races");
             data_race.ongoing_action_data_race_free.set(true);
         }
         let result = op(this);
diff --git a/src/shims/intrinsics/atomic.rs b/src/shims/intrinsics/atomic.rs
index 8e0bb746e3c..752bc0e302e 100644
--- a/src/shims/intrinsics/atomic.rs
+++ b/src/shims/intrinsics/atomic.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 use rustc_middle::{mir, mir::BinOp, ty};
-use rustc_target::abi::Align;
 
 use crate::*;
 use helpers::check_arg_count;
@@ -130,20 +129,9 @@ fn atomic_load(
         let [place] = check_arg_count(args)?;
         let place = this.deref_operand(place)?;
 
-        // make sure it fits into a scalar; otherwise it cannot be atomic
+        // Perform atomic load.
         let val = this.read_scalar_atomic(&place, atomic)?;
-
-        // Check alignment requirements. Atomics must always be aligned to their size,
-        // even if the type they wrap would be less aligned (e.g. AtomicU64 on 32bit must
-        // be 8-aligned).
-        let align = Align::from_bytes(place.layout.size.bytes()).unwrap();
-        this.check_ptr_access_align(
-            place.ptr,
-            place.layout.size,
-            align,
-            CheckInAllocMsg::MemoryAccessTest,
-        )?;
-        // Perform regular access.
+        // Perform regular store.
         this.write_scalar(val, dest)?;
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -157,19 +145,9 @@ fn atomic_store(
 
         let [place, val] = check_arg_count(args)?;
         let place = this.deref_operand(place)?;
-        let val = this.read_scalar(val)?; // make sure it fits into a scalar; otherwise it cannot be atomic
-
-        // Check alignment requirements. Atomics must always be aligned to their size,
-        // even if the type they wrap would be less aligned (e.g. AtomicU64 on 32bit must
-        // be 8-aligned).
-        let align = Align::from_bytes(place.layout.size.bytes()).unwrap();
-        this.check_ptr_access_align(
-            place.ptr,
-            place.layout.size,
-            align,
-            CheckInAllocMsg::MemoryAccessTest,
-        )?;
 
+        // Perform regular load.
+        let val = this.read_scalar(val)?;
         // Perform atomic store
         this.write_scalar_atomic(val, &place, atomic)?;
         Ok(())
@@ -220,17 +198,6 @@ fn atomic_op(
             span_bug!(this.cur_span(), "atomic arithmetic operation type mismatch");
         }
 
-        // Check alignment requirements. Atomics must always be aligned to their size,
-        // even if the type they wrap would be less aligned (e.g. AtomicU64 on 32bit must
-        // be 8-aligned).
-        let align = Align::from_bytes(place.layout.size.bytes()).unwrap();
-        this.check_ptr_access_align(
-            place.ptr,
-            place.layout.size,
-            align,
-            CheckInAllocMsg::MemoryAccessTest,
-        )?;
-
         match atomic_op {
             AtomicOp::Min => {
                 let old = this.atomic_min_max_scalar(&place, rhs, true, atomic)?;
@@ -262,17 +229,6 @@ fn atomic_exchange(
         let place = this.deref_operand(place)?;
         let new = this.read_scalar(new)?;
 
-        // Check alignment requirements. Atomics must always be aligned to their size,
-        // even if the type they wrap would be less aligned (e.g. AtomicU64 on 32bit must
-        // be 8-aligned).
-        let align = Align::from_bytes(place.layout.size.bytes()).unwrap();
-        this.check_ptr_access_align(
-            place.ptr,
-            place.layout.size,
-            align,
-            CheckInAllocMsg::MemoryAccessTest,
-        )?;
-
         let old = this.atomic_exchange_scalar(&place, new, atomic)?;
         this.write_scalar(old, dest)?; // old value is returned
         Ok(())
@@ -293,17 +249,6 @@ fn atomic_compare_exchange_impl(
         let expect_old = this.read_immediate(expect_old)?; // read as immediate for the sake of `binary_op()`
         let new = this.read_scalar(new)?;
 
-        // Check alignment requirements. Atomics must always be aligned to their size,
-        // even if the type they wrap would be less aligned (e.g. AtomicU64 on 32bit must
-        // be 8-aligned).
-        let align = Align::from_bytes(place.layout.size.bytes()).unwrap();
-        this.check_ptr_access_align(
-            place.ptr,
-            place.layout.size,
-            align,
-            CheckInAllocMsg::MemoryAccessTest,
-        )?;
-
         let old = this.atomic_compare_exchange_scalar(
             &place,
             &expect_old,