diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/LLVMIR/LLVMIntrinsicOps.td b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/LLVMIR/LLVMIntrinsicOps.td
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/LLVMIR/LLVMIntrinsicOps.td
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/LLVMIR/LLVMIntrinsicOps.td
@@ -291,9 +291,13 @@
     // argument variable would not work here, since the builder variables are
     // converted before entering the builder, which would result in an error
     // when attempting to convert an argument list.
-    FailureOr<Value> argOperand = moduleImport.convertValue(llvmOperands[0]);
+
+    FailureOr<Value> argOperand = moduleImport.convertMetadataValue(llvmOperands[0]);
+    // Drop the intrinsic when its operand could not be converted. This can
+    // happen for use before definition cases that are allowed for debug
+    // intrinsics.
     if (failed(argOperand))
-      return failure();
+      return success();
     $_op = $_builder.create<$_qualCppClassName>($_location,
         *argOperand, $_var_attr($varInfo));
   }];
diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.h
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@
   /// LLVM values.
   FailureOr<Value> convertValue(llvm::Value *value);
 
+  /// Converts an LLVM metadata value to an MLIR value, or returns failure if
+  /// the conversion fails. Uses the `convertConstant` method to translate
+  /// constant LLVM values.
+  FailureOr<Value> convertMetadataValue(llvm::Value *value);
+
   /// Converts a range of LLVM values to a range of MLIR values using the
   /// `convertValue` method, or returns failure if the conversion fails.
   FailureOr<SmallVector<Value>> convertValues(ArrayRef<llvm::Value *> values);
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.cpp b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Target/LLVMIR/ModuleImport.cpp
@@ -1132,11 +1132,8 @@
 }
 
 FailureOr<Value> ModuleImport::convertValue(llvm::Value *value) {
-  // A value may be wrapped as metadata, for example, when passed to a debug
-  // intrinsic. Unwrap these values before the conversion.
-  if (auto *nodeAsVal = dyn_cast<llvm::MetadataAsValue>(value))
-    if (auto *node = dyn_cast<llvm::ValueAsMetadata>(nodeAsVal->getMetadata()))
-      value = node->getValue();
+  assert(!isa<llvm::MetadataAsValue>(value) &&
+         "expected value to not be metadata");
 
   // Return the mapped value if it has been converted before.
   if (valueMapping.count(value))
@@ -1152,6 +1149,27 @@
   return emitError(loc) << "unhandled value: " << diag(*value);
 }
 
+FailureOr<Value> ModuleImport::convertMetadataValue(llvm::Value *value) {
+  // A value may be wrapped as metadata, for example, when passed to a debug
+  // intrinsic. Unwrap these values before the conversion.
+  auto *nodeAsVal = dyn_cast<llvm::MetadataAsValue>(value);
+  if (!nodeAsVal)
+    return failure();
+  auto *node = dyn_cast<llvm::ValueAsMetadata>(nodeAsVal->getMetadata());
+  if (!node)
+    return failure();
+  value = node->getValue();
+
+  // Return the mapped value if it has been converted before.
+  if (valueMapping.count(value))
+    return lookupValue(value);
+
+  // Convert constants such as immediate values that have no mapping yet.
+  if (auto *constant = dyn_cast<llvm::Constant>(value))
+    return convertConstantExpr(constant);
+  return failure();
+}
+
 FailureOr<SmallVector<Value>>
 ModuleImport::convertValues(ArrayRef<llvm::Value *> values) {
   SmallVector<Value> remapped;
diff --git a/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/Import/debug-info.ll b/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/Import/debug-info.ll
--- a/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/Import/debug-info.ll
+++ b/mlir/test/Target/LLVMIR/Import/debug-info.ll
@@ -344,3 +344,26 @@
 !3 = !DISubprogram(name: "variadic_func", scope: !2, file: !2, flags: DIFlagPrototyped, spFlags: DISPFlagOptimized, type: !4)
 !4 = !DISubroutineType(types: !5)
 !5 = !{null, null}
+
+; // -----
+
+define void @dbg_use_before_def(ptr %arg) {
+  call void @llvm.dbg.value(metadata ptr %dbg_arg, metadata !7, metadata !DIExpression()), !dbg !9
+  %dbg_arg = getelementptr double, ptr %arg, i64 16
+  ret void
+}
+
+declare void @llvm.dbg.value(metadata, metadata, metadata)
+
+!llvm.dbg.cu = !{!1}
+!llvm.module.flags = !{!0}
+!0 = !{i32 2, !"Debug Info Version", i32 3}
+!1 = distinct !DICompileUnit(language: DW_LANG_C, file: !2)
+!2 = !DIFile(filename: "debug-info.ll", directory: "/")
+!3 = !DICompositeType(tag: DW_TAG_class_type, name: "class_field", file: !2, line: 42, flags: DIFlagTypePassByReference | DIFlagNonTrivial, elements: !4)
+!4 = !{!6}
+!5 = !DIDerivedType(tag: DW_TAG_pointer_type, baseType: !3, flags: DIFlagArtificial | DIFlagObjectPointer)
+!6 = !DIDerivedType(tag: DW_TAG_member, name: "call_field", file: !2, baseType: !5)
+!7 = !DILocalVariable(scope: !8, name: "var", file: !2, type: !5);
+!8 = distinct !DISubprogram(name: "dbg_use_before_def", scope: !2, file: !2, spFlags: DISPFlagDefinition, unit: !1)
+!9 = !DILocation(line: 1, column: 2, scope: !8)