diff --git a/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl b/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl
index 5bdd57938e1fb..64002e1f77717 100644
--- a/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl
+++ b/Compiler/src/typeinfer.jl
@@ -578,12 +578,17 @@ function finishinfer!(me::InferenceState, interp::AbstractInterpreter, cycleid::
     nothing
 end
 
-# record the backedges
-function store_backedges(caller::CodeInstance, edges::SimpleVector)
-    isa(caller.def.def, Method) || return # don't add backedges to toplevel method instance
-    i = 1
-    while true
-        i > length(edges) && return nothing
+# Iterate a series of back-edges that need registering, based on the provided forward edge list.
+# Back-edges are returned as (invokesig, item), where the item is a Binding, MethodInstance, or
+# MethodTable.
+struct ForwardToBackedgeIterator
+    forward_edges::SimpleVector
+end
+
+function Base.iterate(it::ForwardToBackedgeIterator, i::Int = 1)
+    edges = it.forward_edges
+    i > length(edges) && return nothing
+    while i ≤ length(edges)
         item = edges[i]
         if item isa Int
             i += 2
@@ -593,32 +598,55 @@ function store_backedges(caller::CodeInstance, edges::SimpleVector)
             i += 1
             continue
         elseif isa(item, Core.Binding)
-            i += 1
-            maybe_add_binding_backedge!(item, caller)
-            continue
+            return ((nothing, item), i + 1)
         end
         if isa(item, CodeInstance)
-            item = item.def
-        end
-        if isa(item, MethodInstance) # regular dispatch
-            ccall(:jl_method_instance_add_backedge, Cvoid, (Any, Any, Any), item, nothing, caller)
-            i += 1
+            item = get_ci_mi(item)
+            return ((nothing, item), i + 1)
+        elseif isa(item, MethodInstance) # regular dispatch
+            return ((nothing, item), i + 1)
         else
+            invokesig = item
             callee = edges[i+1]
-            if isa(callee, MethodTable) # abstract dispatch (legacy style edges)
-                ccall(:jl_method_table_add_backedge, Cvoid, (Any, Any, Any), callee, item, caller)
-                i += 2
-                continue
-            elseif isa(callee, Method)
-                # ignore `Method`-edges (from e.g. failed `abstract_call_method`)
-                i += 2
-                continue
-            # `invoke` edge
-            elseif isa(callee, CodeInstance)
-                callee = get_ci_mi(callee)
+            isa(callee, Method) && (i += 2; continue) # ignore `Method`-edges (from e.g. failed `abstract_call_method`)
+            if isa(callee, MethodTable)
+                # abstract dispatch (legacy style edges)
+                return ((invokesig, callee), i + 2)
+            else
+                # `invoke` edge
+                callee = isa(callee, CodeInstance) ? get_ci_mi(callee) : callee::MethodInstance
+                return ((invokesig, callee), i + 2)
+            end
+        end
+    end
+    return nothing
+end
+
+# record the backedges
+function store_backedges(caller::CodeInstance, edges::SimpleVector)
+    isa(caller.def.def, Method) || return # don't add backedges to toplevel method instance
+
+    backedges = ForwardToBackedgeIterator(edges)
+    for (i, (invokesig, item)) in enumerate(backedges)
+        # check for any duplicate edges we've already registered
+        duplicate_found = false
+        for (i′, (invokesig′, item′)) in enumerate(backedges)
+            i == i′ && break
+            if item′ === item && invokesig′ == invokesig
+                duplicate_found = true
+                break
+            end
+        end
+
+        if !duplicate_found
+            if item isa Core.Binding
+                maybe_add_binding_backedge!(item, caller)
+            elseif item isa MethodTable
+                ccall(:jl_method_table_add_backedge, Cvoid, (Any, Any, Any), item, invokesig, caller)
+            else
+                item::MethodInstance
+                ccall(:jl_method_instance_add_backedge, Cvoid, (Any, Any, Any), item, invokesig, caller)
             end
-            ccall(:jl_method_instance_add_backedge, Cvoid, (Any, Any, Any), callee, item, caller)
-            i += 2
         end
     end
     nothing
diff --git a/src/gf.c b/src/gf.c
index bc66ebc858e1e..4768c60f88095 100644
--- a/src/gf.c
+++ b/src/gf.c
@@ -1997,6 +1997,9 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_method_instance_add_backedge(jl_method_instance_t *callee,
             jl_gc_wb(callee, backedges);
         }
         else {
+#ifndef JL_NDEBUG
+            // It is the caller's (inference's) responsibility to de-duplicate edges. Here we are only
+            // checking its work.
             size_t i = 0, l = jl_array_nrows(backedges);
             for (i = 0; i < l; i++) {
                 // optimized version of while (i < l) i = get_next_edge(callee->backedges, i, &invokeTypes, &mi);
@@ -2012,6 +2015,8 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_method_instance_add_backedge(jl_method_instance_t *callee,
                     break;
                 }
             }
+            assert(!found && "duplicate back-edge registered");
+#endif
         }
         if (!found)
             push_edge(backedges, invokesig, caller);
@@ -2037,14 +2042,20 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_method_table_add_backedge(jl_methtable_t *mt, jl_value_t *t
         else {
             // check if the edge is already present and avoid adding a duplicate
             size_t i, l = jl_array_nrows(mt->backedges);
+#ifndef JL_NDEBUG
+            // It is the caller's (inference's) responsibility to de-duplicate edges. Here we are only
+            // checking its work.
+            int found = 0;
             for (i = 1; i < l; i += 2) {
                 if (jl_array_ptr_ref(mt->backedges, i) == (jl_value_t*)caller) {
                     if (jl_types_equal(jl_array_ptr_ref(mt->backedges, i - 1), typ)) {
-                        JL_UNLOCK(&mt->writelock);
-                        return;
+                        found = 1;
+                        break;
                     }
                 }
             }
+            assert(!found && "duplicate back-edge registered");
+#endif
             // reuse an already cached instance of this type, if possible
             // TODO: use jl_cache_type_(tt) like cache_method does, instead of this linear scan?
             for (i = 1; i < l; i += 2) {
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index c96faf5a71a54..830dc409ae2b0 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -863,6 +863,12 @@ static void jl_insert_into_serialization_queue(jl_serializer_state *s, jl_value_
         }
         goto done_fields; // for now
     }
+    if (s->incremental && jl_is_mtable(v)) {
+        jl_methtable_t *mt = (jl_methtable_t *)v;
+        // Any back-edges will be re-validated and added by staticdata.jl, so
+        // drop them from the image here
+        record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mt->backedges, NULL);
+    }
     if (s->incremental && jl_is_method_instance(v)) {
         jl_method_instance_t *mi = (jl_method_instance_t*)v;
         jl_value_t *def = mi->def.value;
@@ -877,12 +883,14 @@ static void jl_insert_into_serialization_queue(jl_serializer_state *s, jl_value_
             // we only need 3 specific fields of this (the rest are restored afterward, if valid)
             // in particular, cache is repopulated by jl_mi_cache_insert for all foreign function,
             // so must not be present here
-            record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->backedges, NULL);
             record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->cache, NULL);
         }
         else {
             assert(!needs_recaching(v, s->query_cache));
         }
+        // Any back-edges will be re-validated and added by staticdata.jl, so
+        // drop them from the image here
+        record_field_change((jl_value_t**)&mi->backedges, NULL);
         // n.b. opaque closures cannot be inspected and relied upon like a
         // normal method since they can get improperly introduced by generated
         // functions, so if they appeared at all, we will probably serialize