diff --git a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c
index 1a44ae20965..a1c91dcc01c 100644
--- a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c
+++ b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_nir_builtins.c
@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@ st_nir_finish_builtin_nir(struct st_context *st, nir_shader *nir)
    if (!screen->get_param(screen, PIPE_CAP_NIR_IMAGES_AS_DEREF))
       NIR_PASS(_, nir, gl_nir_lower_images, false);
 
+   if (nir->info.io_lowered &&
+       !(nir->options->io_options & nir_io_has_intrinsics)) {
+      NIR_PASS(_, nir, st_nir_unlower_io_to_vars);
+      gl_nir_opts(nir);
+   }
+
    if (screen->finalize_nir) {
       char *msg = screen->finalize_nir(screen, nir);
       free(msg);