diff --git a/src/codegen/infrastructure/type-inference.ts b/src/codegen/infrastructure/type-inference.ts
index 3fcc60d8d..4cd465050 100644
--- a/src/codegen/infrastructure/type-inference.ts
+++ b/src/codegen/infrastructure/type-inference.ts
@@ -188,11 +188,13 @@ export class TypeInference {
     if (t === "boolean") return true;
     if (t === "null") return true;
     if (t === "regex") return true;
-    if (t === "array") return true;
-    if (t === "map") return true;
-    if (t === "set") return true;
-    if (t === "new") return true;
-    if (t === "object") return true;
+    // Only truly-static expression types are cacheable. Anything that
+    // recurses into variable / symbol-table lookups depends on state that's
+    // built mid-codegen — the pre-codegen annotator pass would cache stale
+    // wrong answers. Diagnosed: 342 array + 29 conditional + 26 binary
+    // cases where cached rich returned number[] for string[] / object[]
+    // declarations (VA_DIAG trail in memory). Force live re-resolution
+    // for all other shapes by returning false.
     return false;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/codegen/infrastructure/variable-allocator.ts b/src/codegen/infrastructure/variable-allocator.ts
index b6e2efcde..e3cf05f26 100644
--- a/src/codegen/infrastructure/variable-allocator.ts
+++ b/src/codegen/infrastructure/variable-allocator.ts
@@ -199,10 +199,8 @@ export interface VariableAllocatorContext {
   setLastTypeAssertionSourceVar(name: string | null): void;
   setCurrentVarDeclKey(key: string | null): void;
   isStackEligibleKey(key: string): boolean;
-  // New methods pinned at END of interface: adding them mid-interface shifts
-  // native vtable slot positions for everything below — see CLAUDE.md rule #5
-  // and memory/native-method-deletion-breaks-vtable.md.
-  resolveExpressionTypeRich(expr: Expression): ResolvedType | null;
+  // New method pinned at END of interface: inserting mid-interface shifts
+  // native vtable slots (CLAUDE.md rule #5).
   typeOf(expr: Expression): ResolvedType | null;
 }
 
@@ -742,14 +740,12 @@ export class VariableAllocator {
 
     const stmtDeclaredType: string = stmt.declaredType || "";
     const strippedDeclType = stripNullable(stmtDeclaredType);
-    // NOTE: stays on flat resolveExpressionType. Switching to typeOf()
-    // returns a freshly-allocated enriched clone; passing that to the
-    // downstream consumer here produces wrong native GEP offsets (likely
-    // Phase C normalizer didn't canonicalize the enrichResolvedType
-    // literal). Calling typeOf() and DISCARDING works; USING the result
-    // breaks. Needs normalizer coverage on enrichResolvedType before
-    // this consumer can migrate.
-    const resolved = this.ctx.resolveExpressionType(stmtValue);
+    // Prefer the annotator-populated cache via typeOf when available; fall
+    // through to the resolver for expressions the annotator skipped.
+    let resolved = this.ctx.typeOf(stmtValue);
+    if (resolved === null) {
+      resolved = this.ctx.resolveExpressionType(stmtValue);
+    }
     const nodeType = (stmtValue as ExprBase).type;
 
     let isString: boolean;
diff --git a/src/semantic/type-annotator.ts b/src/semantic/type-annotator.ts
index 23365495b..3c8451216 100644
--- a/src/semantic/type-annotator.ts
+++ b/src/semantic/type-annotator.ts
@@ -242,12 +242,28 @@ class TypeAnnotator {
       this.visitExpr(ta.expression);
     }
 
-    // After recursion, annotate this expression. Skip unknown-base and
-    // missing sourceKind — they represent resolver gaps, not authoritative
-    // info. typeOf's fallback still covers them on demand.
+    // After recursion, annotate this expression — but ONLY for truly-static
+    // shapes. Array / map / set / object / new / binary / conditional all
+    // recurse through variable / symbol-table lookups whose answers depend
+    // on codegen-time state the annotator doesn't yet see; caching them
+    // would freeze a pre-codegen wrong answer. Typed-literal and
+    // template_literal results are stable (always same base). Everything
+    // else gets resolved live by typeOf's fallback.
+    if (!this.isStableExprType(e.type)) return;
     const resolved = this.sink.resolveExpressionTypeRich(expr);
     if (resolved && resolved.base && resolved.base !== "unknown") {
       this.sink.appendExpressionType(expr, resolved);
     }
   }
+
+  private isStableExprType(t: string): boolean {
+    return (
+      t === "number" ||
+      t === "string" ||
+      t === "template_literal" ||
+      t === "boolean" ||
+      t === "null" ||
+      t === "regex"
+    );
+  }
 }