diff --git a/src/go/internal/gcimporter/gcimporter_test.go b/src/go/internal/gcimporter/gcimporter_test.go
index b32de17..68a077c 100644
--- a/src/go/internal/gcimporter/gcimporter_test.go
+++ b/src/go/internal/gcimporter/gcimporter_test.go
@@ -583,6 +583,30 @@
 	}
 }
 
+func TestTypeNamingOrder(t *testing.T) {
+	skipSpecialPlatforms(t)
+
+	// This package only handles gc export data.
+	if runtime.Compiler != "gc" {
+		t.Skipf("gc-built packages not available (compiler = %s)", runtime.Compiler)
+	}
+
+	// On windows, we have to set the -D option for the compiler to avoid having a drive
+	// letter and an illegal ':' in the import path - just skip it (see also issue #3483).
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skip("avoid dealing with relative paths/drive letters on windows")
+	}
+
+	tmpdir := mktmpdir(t)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir)
+	testoutdir := filepath.Join(tmpdir, "testdata")
+
+	compile(t, "testdata", "g.go", testoutdir)
+
+	// import must succeed (test for issue at hand)
+	_ = importPkg(t, "./testdata/g", tmpdir)
+}
+
 func TestIssue13898(t *testing.T) {
 	skipSpecialPlatforms(t)
 
diff --git a/src/go/internal/gcimporter/testdata/g.go b/src/go/internal/gcimporter/testdata/g.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..301c142
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/go/internal/gcimporter/testdata/g.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright 2016 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// Input for TestTypeNamingOrder
+
+// ensures that the order in which "type A B" declarations are
+// processed is correct; this was a problem for unified IR imports.
+
+package g
+
+type Client struct {
+	common service
+	A      *AService
+	B      *BService
+}
+
+type service struct {
+	client *Client
+}
+
+type AService service
+type BService service
diff --git a/src/go/internal/gcimporter/ureader.go b/src/go/internal/gcimporter/ureader.go
index 5e133f8..97f0664 100644
--- a/src/go/internal/gcimporter/ureader.go
+++ b/src/go/internal/gcimporter/ureader.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 	// laterFns holds functions that need to be invoked at the end of
 	// import reading.
 	laterFns []func()
+	// laterFors is used in case of 'type A B' to ensure that B is processed before A.
+	laterFors map[types.Type]int
 }
 
 // later adds a function to be invoked at the end of import reading.
@@ -38,6 +40,15 @@
 	pr.laterFns = append(pr.laterFns, fn)
 }
 
+// laterFor adds a function to be invoked at the end of import reading, and records the type that function is finishing.
+func (pr *pkgReader) laterFor(t types.Type, fn func()) {
+	if pr.laterFors == nil {
+		pr.laterFors = make(map[types.Type]int)
+	}
+	pr.laterFors[t] = len(pr.laterFns)
+	pr.laterFns = append(pr.laterFns, fn)
+}
+
 // readUnifiedPackage reads a package description from the given
 // unified IR export data decoder.
 func readUnifiedPackage(fset *token.FileSet, ctxt *types.Context, imports map[string]*types.Package, input pkgbits.PkgDecoder) *types.Package {
@@ -487,7 +498,15 @@
 			// unit tests expected that), but cmd/compile doesn't care
 			// about it, so maybe we can avoid worrying about that here.
 			rhs := r.typ()
-			r.p.later(func() {
+			pk := r.p
+			pk.laterFor(named, func() {
+				// First be sure that the rhs is initialized, if it needs to be initialized.
+				delete(pk.laterFors, named) // prevent cycles
+				if i, ok := pk.laterFors[rhs]; ok {
+					f := pk.laterFns[i]
+					pk.laterFns[i] = func() {} // function is running now, so replace it with a no-op
+					f()                        // initialize RHS
+				}
 				underlying := rhs.Underlying()
 				named.SetUnderlying(underlying)
 			})