diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/errors.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/errors.rs
index 1e922060100..dd63a254a18 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/errors.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/errors.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ pub enum RuntimeError {
     UnconstrainedSliceReturnToConstrained { call_stack: CallStack },
     #[error("All `oracle` methods should be wrapped in an unconstrained fn")]
     UnconstrainedOracleReturnToConstrained { call_stack: CallStack },
+    #[error("Could not resolve some references to the array. All references must be resolved at compile time")]
+    UnknownReference { call_stack: CallStack },
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
@@ -123,7 +125,8 @@ impl RuntimeError {
             | RuntimeError::NestedSlice { call_stack, .. }
             | RuntimeError::BigIntModulus { call_stack, .. }
             | RuntimeError::UnconstrainedSliceReturnToConstrained { call_stack }
-            | RuntimeError::UnconstrainedOracleReturnToConstrained { call_stack } => call_stack,
+            | RuntimeError::UnconstrainedOracleReturnToConstrained { call_stack }
+            | RuntimeError::UnknownReference { call_stack } => call_stack,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/acir_gen/mod.rs b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/acir_gen/mod.rs
index 2aac083d727..40170e58a30 100644
--- a/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/acir_gen/mod.rs
+++ b/compiler/noirc_evaluator/src/ssa/acir_gen/mod.rs
@@ -682,7 +682,9 @@ impl<'a> Context<'a> {
                 self.handle_array_operation(instruction_id, dfg)?;
             }
             Instruction::Allocate => {
-                unreachable!("Expected all allocate instructions to be removed before acir_gen")
+                return Err(RuntimeError::UnknownReference {
+                    call_stack: self.acir_context.get_call_stack().clone(),
+                });
             }
             Instruction::Store { .. } => {
                 unreachable!("Expected all store instructions to be removed before acir_gen")
@@ -1307,6 +1309,9 @@ impl<'a> Context<'a> {
                 }
                 Ok(AcirValue::Array(values))
             }
+            Type::Reference(reference_type) => {
+                self.array_get_value(reference_type.as_ref(), block_id, var_index)
+            }
             _ => unreachable!("ICE: Expected an array or numeric but got {ssa_type:?}"),
         }
     }