diff --git a/src/intrinsics.cpp b/src/intrinsics.cpp
index 7d7c24cdda0b6..61b9431177905 100644
--- a/src/intrinsics.cpp
+++ b/src/intrinsics.cpp
@@ -600,8 +600,13 @@ static jl_cgval_t emit_pointerref(jl_codectx_t &ctx, jl_cgval_t *argv)
         bool isboxed;
         Type *ptrty = julia_type_to_llvm(ety, &isboxed);
         assert(!isboxed);
-        Value *thePtr = emit_unbox(ctx, ptrty->getPointerTo(), e, e.typ);
-        return typed_load(ctx, thePtr, im1, ety, tbaa_data, nullptr, true, align_nb);
+        if (!type_is_ghost(ptrty)) {
+            Value *thePtr = emit_unbox(ctx, ptrty->getPointerTo(), e, e.typ);
+            return typed_load(ctx, thePtr, im1, ety, tbaa_data, nullptr, true, align_nb);
+        }
+        else {
+            return ghostValue(ety);
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -663,10 +668,12 @@ static jl_cgval_t emit_pointerset(jl_codectx_t &ctx, jl_cgval_t *argv)
         bool isboxed;
         Type *ptrty = julia_type_to_llvm(ety, &isboxed);
         assert(!isboxed);
-        thePtr = emit_unbox(ctx, ptrty->getPointerTo(), e, e.typ);
-        typed_store(ctx, thePtr, im1, x, ety, tbaa_data, nullptr, nullptr, align_nb);
+        if (!type_is_ghost(ptrty)) {
+            thePtr = emit_unbox(ctx, ptrty->getPointerTo(), e, e.typ);
+            typed_store(ctx, thePtr, im1, x, ety, tbaa_data, nullptr, nullptr, align_nb);
+        }
     }
-    return mark_julia_type(ctx, thePtr, false, aty);
+    return e;
 }
 
 static Value *emit_checked_srem_int(jl_codectx_t &ctx, Value *x, Value *den)
diff --git a/test/intrinsics.jl b/test/intrinsics.jl
index 993efc63a4c03..a5f3308c68639 100644
--- a/test/intrinsics.jl
+++ b/test/intrinsics.jl
@@ -100,3 +100,9 @@ let f = Core.Intrinsics.ashr_int
     @test f(Int32(-1), -10) == -1
     @test f(Int32(2), -1) == 0
 end
+
+# issue #29929
+@test unsafe_store!(Ptr{Nothing}(C_NULL), nothing) === Ptr{Nothing}(0)
+@test unsafe_load(Ptr{Nothing}(0)) === nothing
+struct GhostStruct end
+@test unsafe_load(Ptr{GhostStruct}(rand(Int))) === GhostStruct()