diff --git a/flang/include/flang/Evaluate/tools.h b/flang/include/flang/Evaluate/tools.h
--- a/flang/include/flang/Evaluate/tools.h
+++ b/flang/include/flang/Evaluate/tools.h
@@ -115,14 +115,19 @@
   }
 }
 
+inline Expr<SomeType> AsGenericExpr(Expr<SomeType> &&x) { return std::move(x); }
+
+// These overloads wrap DataRefs and simple whole variables up into
+// generic expressions if they have a known type.
+std::optional<Expr<SomeType>> AsGenericExpr(DataRef &&);
+std::optional<Expr<SomeType>> AsGenericExpr(const Symbol &);
+
 template <typename A>
 common::IfNoLvalue<Expr<SomeKind<ResultType<A>::category>>, A> AsCategoryExpr(
     A &&x) {
   return Expr<SomeKind<ResultType<A>::category>>{AsExpr(std::move(x))};
 }
 
-inline Expr<SomeType> AsGenericExpr(Expr<SomeType> &&x) { return std::move(x); }
-
 Expr<SomeType> Parenthesize(Expr<SomeType> &&);
 
 Expr<SomeReal> GetComplexPart(
diff --git a/flang/lib/Evaluate/fold-designator.cpp b/flang/lib/Evaluate/fold-designator.cpp
--- a/flang/lib/Evaluate/fold-designator.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Evaluate/fold-designator.cpp
@@ -312,12 +312,12 @@
   if (std::optional<DataRef> dataRef{
           OffsetToDataRef(context, NamedEntity{baseSymbol}, offset, size)}) {
     const Symbol &symbol{dataRef->GetLastSymbol()};
-    if (auto type{DynamicType::From(symbol)}) {
-      if (std::optional<Expr<SomeType>> result{
-              TypedWrapper<Designator>(*type, std::move(*dataRef))}) {
-        if (IsAllocatableOrPointer(symbol)) {
-        } else if (auto elementBytes{
-                       ToInt64(type->MeasureSizeInBytes(context, true))}) {
+    if (std::optional<Expr<SomeType>> result{
+            AsGenericExpr(std::move(*dataRef))}) {
+      if (IsAllocatableOrPointer(symbol)) {
+      } else if (auto type{DynamicType::From(symbol)}) {
+        if (auto elementBytes{
+                ToInt64(type->MeasureSizeInBytes(context, true))}) {
           if (auto *zExpr{std::get_if<Expr<SomeComplex>>(&result->u)}) {
             if (size * 2 > static_cast<std::size_t>(*elementBytes)) {
               return result;
@@ -351,9 +351,9 @@
             }
           }
         }
-        if (offset == 0) {
-          return result;
-        }
+      }
+      if (offset == 0) {
+        return result;
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/flang/lib/Evaluate/tools.cpp b/flang/lib/Evaluate/tools.cpp
--- a/flang/lib/Evaluate/tools.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Evaluate/tools.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,18 @@
 
 namespace Fortran::evaluate {
 
+std::optional<Expr<SomeType>> AsGenericExpr(DataRef &&ref) {
+  const Symbol &symbol{ref.GetLastSymbol()};
+  if (auto dyType{DynamicType::From(symbol)}) {
+    return TypedWrapper<Designator, DataRef>(*dyType, std::move(ref));
+  }
+  return std::nullopt;
+}
+
+std::optional<Expr<SomeType>> AsGenericExpr(const Symbol &symbol) {
+  return AsGenericExpr(DataRef{symbol});
+}
+
 Expr<SomeType> Parenthesize(Expr<SomeType> &&expr) {
   return std::visit(
       [&](auto &&x) {
diff --git a/flang/lib/Semantics/check-declarations.cpp b/flang/lib/Semantics/check-declarations.cpp
--- a/flang/lib/Semantics/check-declarations.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Semantics/check-declarations.cpp
@@ -538,13 +538,10 @@
       !scopeIsUninstantiatedPDT_) {
     if (const auto *object{symbol.detailsIf<ObjectEntityDetails>()}) {
       if (object->init()) { // C764, C765; C808
-        if (auto dyType{evaluate::DynamicType::From(symbol)}) {
-          if (auto designator{evaluate::TypedWrapper<evaluate::Designator>(
-                  *dyType, evaluate::DataRef{symbol})}) {
-            auto restorer{messages_.SetLocation(symbol.name())};
-            context_.set_location(symbol.name());
-            CheckInitialTarget(foldingContext_, *designator, *object->init());
-          }
+        if (auto designator{evaluate::AsGenericExpr(symbol)}) {
+          auto restorer{messages_.SetLocation(symbol.name())};
+          context_.set_location(symbol.name());
+          CheckInitialTarget(foldingContext_, *designator, *object->init());
         }
       }
     } else if (const auto *proc{symbol.detailsIf<ProcEntityDetails>()}) {
diff --git a/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp b/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
--- a/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
+++ b/flang/lib/Semantics/expression.cpp
@@ -195,12 +195,11 @@
     } else {
       Say("'%s' is not a specific intrinsic procedure"_err_en_US,
           symbol.name());
-      return std::nullopt;
     }
-  } else if (auto dyType{DynamicType::From(symbol)}) {
-    return TypedWrapper<Designator, DataRef>(*dyType, std::move(ref));
+    return std::nullopt;
+  } else {
+    return AsGenericExpr(std::move(ref));
   }
-  return std::nullopt;
 }
 
 // Some subscript semantic checks must be deferred until all of the