diff --git a/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl b/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl
index cf6af9ce17acb..3e34528aa8284 100644
--- a/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/abstractinterpretation.jl
@@ -118,10 +118,9 @@ function abstract_call_gf_by_type(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(f),
             splitsigs = switchtupleunion(sig)
             for sig_n in splitsigs
                 result = abstract_call_method(interp, method, sig_n, svec(), multiple_matches, sv)
-                rt, edge = result.rt, result.edge
-                if edge !== nothing
-                    push!(edges, edge)
-                end
+                rt = result.rt
+                edge = result.edge
+                edge !== nothing && push!(edges, edge)
                 this_argtypes = isa(matches, MethodMatches) ? argtypes : matches.applicable_argtypes[i]
                 this_arginfo = ArgInfo(fargs, this_argtypes)
                 const_call_result = abstract_call_method_with_const_args(interp, result,
@@ -129,8 +128,10 @@ function abstract_call_gf_by_type(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(f),
                 effects = result.edge_effects
                 const_result = nothing
                 if const_call_result !== nothing
-                    if const_call_result.rt ⊑ rt
-                        (; rt, effects, const_result) = const_call_result
+                    const_rt = const_call_result.rt
+                    if const_rt ⊑ rt
+                        rt = const_rt
+                        (; effects, const_result) = const_call_result
                     end
                 end
                 tristate_merge!(sv, effects)
@@ -143,6 +144,8 @@ function abstract_call_gf_by_type(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(f),
                     break
                 end
             end
+            this_conditional = ignorelimited(this_rt)
+            this_rt = widenwrappedconditional(this_rt)
         else
             if infer_compilation_signature(interp)
                 # Also infer the compilation signature for this method, so it's available
@@ -159,10 +162,10 @@ function abstract_call_gf_by_type(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(f),
             end
 
             result = abstract_call_method(interp, method, sig, match.sparams, multiple_matches, sv)
-            this_rt, edge = result.rt, result.edge
-            if edge !== nothing
-                push!(edges, edge)
-            end
+            this_conditional = ignorelimited(result.rt)
+            this_rt = widenwrappedconditional(result.rt)
+            edge = result.edge
+            edge !== nothing && push!(edges, edge)
             # try constant propagation with argtypes for this match
             # this is in preparation for inlining, or improving the return result
             this_argtypes = isa(matches, MethodMatches) ? argtypes : matches.applicable_argtypes[i]
@@ -172,10 +175,12 @@ function abstract_call_gf_by_type(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(f),
             effects = result.edge_effects
             const_result = nothing
             if const_call_result !== nothing
-                this_const_rt = const_call_result.rt
+                this_const_conditional = ignorelimited(const_call_result.rt)
+                this_const_rt = widenwrappedconditional(const_call_result.rt)
                 # return type of const-prop' inference can be wider than that of non const-prop' inference
                 # e.g. in cases when there are cycles but cached result is still accurate
                 if this_const_rt ⊑ this_rt
+                    this_conditional = this_const_conditional
                     this_rt = this_const_rt
                     (; effects, const_result) = const_call_result
                 end
@@ -186,8 +191,6 @@ function abstract_call_gf_by_type(interp::AbstractInterpreter, @nospecialize(f),
                 any_const_result = true
             end
         end
-        this_conditional = ignorelimited(this_rt)
-        this_rt = widenwrappedconditional(this_rt)
         @assert !(this_conditional isa Conditional) "invalid lattice element returned from inter-procedural context"
         seen += 1
         rettype = tmerge(rettype, this_rt)
diff --git a/test/compiler/inference.jl b/test/compiler/inference.jl
index a0165b165e7d8..955dafeca4b7f 100644
--- a/test/compiler/inference.jl
+++ b/test/compiler/inference.jl
@@ -2032,6 +2032,13 @@ end
         end
         @test ts == Any[Any]
     end
+
+    # a tricky case: if constant inference derives `Const` while non-constant inference has
+    # derived `InterConditional`, we should not discard that constant information
+    iszero_simple(x) = x === 0
+    @test Base.return_types() do
+        iszero_simple(0) ? nothing : missing
+    end |> only === Nothing
 end
 
 @testset "branching on conditional object" begin