diff --git a/src/coreclr/jit/lower.cpp b/src/coreclr/jit/lower.cpp
index 57a3b74af432c1..7b23091d999d27 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/jit/lower.cpp
+++ b/src/coreclr/jit/lower.cpp
@@ -10152,7 +10152,6 @@ void Lowering::LowerBlockStoreAsGcBulkCopyCall(GenTreeBlk* blk)
     assert(blk->OperIs(GT_STORE_BLK));
     assert(blk->GetLayout()->HasGCPtr());
     assert(!blk->OperIsInitBlkOp());
-    assert(!blk->IsAddressNotOnHeap(m_compiler));
     assert(!blk->IsVolatile());
     assert(!blk->Data()->OperIs(GT_IND) || !blk->Data()->AsIndir()->IsVolatile());
 
@@ -10292,21 +10291,26 @@ void Lowering::LowerCopyBlockStore(GenTreeBlk* blkNode)
     const unsigned unrollLimit = m_compiler->getUnrollThreshold(Compiler::UnrollKind::Memcpy, canUseSimd);
 #endif
 
+#if !defined(JIT32_GCENCODER)
     if (doCpObj && isNotHeap)
     {
         // No write barriers are needed if the destination is known to be outside of the GC heap.
         // If the layout contains a byref, then we know it must live on the stack.
         doCpObj = false;
-#if !defined(JIT32_GCENCODER) && !defined(TARGET_WASM)
+#if !defined(TARGET_WASM)
         if (size <= unrollLimit)
         {
             // If the size is small enough to unroll then we need to mark the block as non-interruptible
             // to actually allow unrolling. The generated code does not report GC references loaded in the
-            // temporary register(s) used for copying. This is not supported for the JIT32_GCENCODER.
+            // temporary register(s) used for copying. This is not supported for the JIT32_GCENCODER, so
+            // on that target we keep doCpObj=true above and stay on the GC-aware CpObj path; the lowering
+            // heuristics in TryDecomposeBlockStoreAsIndirs then choose between per-slot decomposition and
+            // the bulk write-barrier helper.
             blkNode->gtBlkOpGcUnsafe = true;
         }
 #endif
     }
+#endif // !JIT32_GCENCODER
 
     if (doCpObj)
     {
diff --git a/src/tests/JIT/Regression/JitBlue/Runtime_128801/Runtime_128801.cs b/src/tests/JIT/Regression/JitBlue/Runtime_128801/Runtime_128801.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..520863dd30d465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/JIT/Regression/JitBlue/Runtime_128801/Runtime_128801.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+// Regression test for an x86 GC hole in Tier0/minopts code: a stack-to-stack
+// copy of a ReadOnlySpan<T> went through the unroll path that loaded the
+// byref slot into a scratch register without reporting it in the GC info,
+// so a moving GC between the load and the store could leave the local with
+// a stale byref pointing into a free object. Needs GCStress to reliably
+// reproduce; CI pipelines that exercise GCStress will catch a regression.
+
+namespace Runtime_128801;
+
+using System;
+using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
+using Xunit;
+
+public class Runtime_128801
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public static int TestEntryPoint()
+    {
+        byte[][] buffers = new byte[256][];
+        for (int i = 0; i < buffers.Length; i++)
+        {
+            buffers[i] = new byte[2];
+        }
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < 50_000; i++)
+        {
+            if (!SpanCopyAndUse(buffers[i % buffers.Length]))
+            {
+                return -1;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return 100;
+    }
+
+    [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+    private static bool SpanCopyAndUse(Span<byte> s)
+    {
+        Span<byte> local = s;
+        if (local.Length < 2)
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
+        ref byte p = ref local[0];
+        ref byte q = ref local[1];
+        if (Unsafe.ByteOffset(ref p, ref q) != new IntPtr(1))
+        {
+            return false;
+        }
+        p = 1;
+        q = 2;
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/tests/JIT/Regression/Regression_ro_2.csproj b/src/tests/JIT/Regression/Regression_ro_2.csproj
index bbc80fc0290b73..f8bedd81f9050b 100644
--- a/src/tests/JIT/Regression/Regression_ro_2.csproj
+++ b/src/tests/JIT/Regression/Regression_ro_2.csproj
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@
     <Compile Include="JitBlue\Runtime_127260\Runtime_127260.cs" />
     <Compile Include="JitBlue\Runtime_127446\Runtime_127446.cs" />
     <Compile Include="JitBlue\Runtime_128631\Runtime_128631.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="JitBlue\Runtime_128801\Runtime_128801.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(TestSourceDir)MergedTestRunner.targets" />
 </Project>