diff --git a/src/cmd/vet/assign.go b/src/cmd/vet/assign.go
index 54c1ae1fdc..bfa5b30329 100644
--- a/src/cmd/vet/assign.go
+++ b/src/cmd/vet/assign.go
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ func checkAssignStmt(f *File, node ast.Node) {
 	}
 	for i, lhs := range stmt.Lhs {
 		rhs := stmt.Rhs[i]
+		if hasSideEffects(lhs) || hasSideEffects(rhs) {
+			continue // expressions may not be equal
+		}
 		if reflect.TypeOf(lhs) != reflect.TypeOf(rhs) {
 			continue // short-circuit the heavy-weight gofmt check
 		}
diff --git a/src/cmd/vet/testdata/assign.go b/src/cmd/vet/testdata/assign.go
index 32ba8683c1..6140ad4db8 100644
--- a/src/cmd/vet/testdata/assign.go
+++ b/src/cmd/vet/testdata/assign.go
@@ -6,13 +6,26 @@
 
 package testdata
 
+import "math/rand"
+
 type ST struct {
 	x int
+	l []int
 }
 
-func (s *ST) SetX(x int) {
+func (s *ST) SetX(x int, ch chan int) {
 	// Accidental self-assignment; it should be "s.x = x"
 	x = x // ERROR "self-assignment of x to x"
 	// Another mistake
 	s.x = s.x // ERROR "self-assignment of s.x to s.x"
+
+	s.l[0] = s.l[0] // ERROR "self-assignment of s.l.0. to s.l.0."
+
+	// Bail on any potential side effects to avoid false positives
+	s.l[num()] = s.l[num()]
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(0))
+	s.l[rng.Intn(len(s.l))] = s.l[rng.Intn(len(s.l))]
+	s.l[<-ch] = s.l[<-ch]
 }
+
+func num() int { return 2 }