diff --git a/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl b/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
index ab3b50763deec..cc8ba227bd088 100644
--- a/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/tfuncs.jl
@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ function instanceof_tfunc(@nospecialize(t), astag::Bool=false, @nospecialize(tro
         end
         return tr, isexact, isconcrete, istype
     elseif isa(t, Union)
-        ta, isexact_a, isconcrete_a, istype_a = instanceof_tfunc(t.a, astag, troot)
-        tb, isexact_b, isconcrete_b, istype_b = instanceof_tfunc(t.b, astag, troot)
+        ta, isexact_a, isconcrete_a, istype_a = instanceof_tfunc(unwraptv(t.a), astag, troot)
+        tb, isexact_b, isconcrete_b, istype_b = instanceof_tfunc(unwraptv(t.b), astag, troot)
         isconcrete = isconcrete_a && isconcrete_b
         istype = istype_a && istype_b
         # most users already handle the Union case, so here we assume that
@@ -563,9 +563,9 @@ add_tfunc(Core.sizeof, 1, 1, sizeof_tfunc, 1)
         end
     end
     if isa(x, Union)
-        na = nfields_tfunc(𝕃, x.a)
+        na = nfields_tfunc(𝕃, unwraptv(x.a))
         na === Int && return Int
-        return tmerge(na, nfields_tfunc(𝕃, x.b))
+        return tmerge(𝕃, na, nfields_tfunc(𝕃, unwraptv(x.b)))
     end
     return Int
 end
diff --git a/test/compiler/inference.jl b/test/compiler/inference.jl
index d1382d3c84b82..46009e0790942 100644
--- a/test/compiler/inference.jl
+++ b/test/compiler/inference.jl
@@ -6152,3 +6152,6 @@ end
 t155751 = Union{AbstractArray{UInt8, 4}, Array{Float32, 4}, Grid55751{Float32, 3, _A} where _A}
 t255751 = Array{Float32, 3}
 @test Core.Compiler.tmerge_types_slow(t155751,t255751) == AbstractArray # shouldn't hang
+
+issue55882_nfields(x::Union{T,Nothing}) where T<:Number = nfields(x)
+@test Base.infer_return_type(issue55882_nfields) <: Int