diff --git a/base/Base.jl b/base/Base.jl
index 22e8b48288efc0..20e729256664f7 100644
--- a/base/Base.jl
+++ b/base/Base.jl
@@ -447,6 +447,10 @@ for m in methods(include)
     delete_method(m)
 end
 
+# This method is here only to be overwritten during the test suite to test
+# various sysimg related invalidation scenarios.
+a_method_to_overwrite_in_test() = inferencebarrier(1)
+
 # These functions are duplicated in client.jl/include(::String) for
 # nicer stacktraces. Modifications here have to be backported there
 include(mod::Module, _path::AbstractString) = _include(identity, mod, _path)
diff --git a/src/gf.c b/src/gf.c
index 2828d0e22e2d9e..9e2ecfadcd7af5 100644
--- a/src/gf.c
+++ b/src/gf.c
@@ -280,6 +280,10 @@ jl_code_info_t *jl_type_infer(jl_method_instance_t *mi, size_t world, int force)
     if (jl_typeinf_func == NULL)
         return NULL;
     jl_task_t *ct = jl_current_task;
+    if (ct->reentrant_inference == ~(uint16_t)0) {
+        jl_printf(JL_STDERR, "ERROR: Attempted to enter inference while writing out image.");
+        return NULL;
+    }
     if (ct->reentrant_inference > 2)
         return NULL;
 
diff --git a/src/precompile_utils.c b/src/precompile_utils.c
index f251d00f76cfd5..6154a9ced7eef5 100644
--- a/src/precompile_utils.c
+++ b/src/precompile_utils.c
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ static int precompile_enq_specialization_(jl_method_instance_t *mi, void *closur
                 (jl_ir_inlining_cost((jl_array_t*)inferred) == UINT16_MAX)) {
                 do_compile = 1;
             }
-            else if (jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&codeinst->invoke) != NULL || jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&codeinst->precompile)) {
+            else if (jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&codeinst->precompile)) {
                 do_compile = 1;
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index eea59a8cffceb2..405f104f11e993 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -2615,7 +2615,11 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_create_system_image(void **_native_data, jl_array_t *workli
         } else {
             checksumpos_ff = checksumpos;
         }
-        jl_gc_enable_finalizers(ct, 0); // make sure we don't run any Julia code concurrently after this point
+        {
+            // make sure we don't run any Julia code concurrently after this point
+            jl_gc_enable_finalizers(ct, 0);
+            ct->reentrant_inference = ~(uint16_t)0;
+        }
         jl_prepare_serialization_data(mod_array, newly_inferred, jl_worklist_key(worklist), &extext_methods, &new_specializations, &method_roots_list, &ext_targets, &edges);
 
         // Generate _native_data`
diff --git a/test/precompile.jl b/test/precompile.jl
index 8aa09efe3f417c..8f8c8202832ee0 100644
--- a/test/precompile.jl
+++ b/test/precompile.jl
@@ -1691,6 +1691,23 @@ precompile_test_harness("DynamicExpressions") do load_path
     end
 end
 
+precompile_test_harness("BadInvalidations") do load_path
+    write(joinpath(load_path, "BadInvalidations.jl"),
+    """
+    module BadInvalidations
+        Base.Experimental.@compiler_options compile=min optimize=1
+        getval() = Base.a_method_to_overwrite_in_test()
+        getval()
+    end # module BadInvalidations
+    """)
+    Base.compilecache(Base.PkgId("BadInvalidations"))
+    (@eval Base a_method_to_overwrite_in_test() = inferencebarrier(2))
+    (@eval (using BadInvalidations))
+    Base.invokelatest() do
+        @test BadInvalidations.getval() === 2
+    end
+end
+
 empty!(Base.DEPOT_PATH)
 append!(Base.DEPOT_PATH, original_depot_path)
 empty!(Base.LOAD_PATH)