diff --git a/src/builtins/guts.pir b/src/builtins/guts.pir
index 16f8d2d8008..bb252389dab 100644
--- a/src/builtins/guts.pir
+++ b/src/builtins/guts.pir
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ way. Otherwise, it uses .^dispatch from the metaclass.
     .tailcall $P0.'dispatch'(obj, name, pos_args :flat, name_args :flat :named)
 
   foreign:
+    obj = '!DEREF'(obj)
     .tailcall obj.name(pos_args :flat, name_args :flat :named)
 .end