diff --git a/array.c b/array.c
index 9bb767d79f..7b3f5bd0b0 100644
--- a/array.c
+++ b/array.c
@@ -4680,14 +4680,16 @@ rb_ary_replace(VALUE copy, VALUE orig)
      * contents of orig. */
     else if (ARY_EMBED_P(orig)) {
         long len = ARY_EMBED_LEN(orig);
-
         VALUE *ptr = ary_heap_alloc(copy, len);
-        MEMCPY(ptr, ARY_EMBED_PTR(orig), VALUE, len);
 
         FL_UNSET_EMBED(copy);
         ARY_SET_PTR(copy, ptr);
         ARY_SET_LEN(copy, len);
         ARY_SET_CAPA(copy, len);
+
+        // No allocation and exception expected that could leave `copy` in a
+        // bad state from the edits above.
+        ary_memcpy(copy, 0, len, RARRAY_CONST_PTR_TRANSIENT(orig));
     }
 #endif
     /* Otherwise, orig is on heap and copy does not have enough space to embed
diff --git a/test/ruby/test_array.rb b/test/ruby/test_array.rb
index b100cf334c..e376d76a16 100644
--- a/test/ruby/test_array.rb
+++ b/test/ruby/test_array.rb
@@ -1439,6 +1439,14 @@ class TestArray < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_raise(FrozenError) { fa.replace(42) }
   end
 
+  def test_replace_wb_variable_width_alloc
+    small_embed = []
+    4.times { GC.start } # age small_embed
+    large_embed = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Array.new] # new young object
+    small_embed.replace(large_embed) # adds old to young reference
+    GC.verify_internal_consistency
+  end
+
   def test_reverse
     a = @cls[*%w( dog cat bee ant )]
     assert_equal(@cls[*%w(ant bee cat dog)], a.reverse)