diff --git a/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir.rs b/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir.rs
index 86379c552c2..ab78938e572 100644
--- a/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir.rs
+++ b/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir.rs
@@ -374,7 +374,10 @@ pub struct SSAValue {
 impl SSAValue {
     /// Returns an SSA value with the given register file and index
     pub fn new(file: RegFile, idx: u32) -> SSAValue {
-        assert!(idx > 0 && idx < (1 << 29) - 2);
+        assert!(
+            idx > 0
+                && idx < (1 << 29) - u32::try_from(SSARef::LARGE_SIZE).unwrap()
+        );
         let mut packed = idx;
         assert!(u8::from(file) < 8);
         packed |= u32::from(u8::from(file)) << 29;
@@ -407,6 +410,57 @@ impl fmt::Display for SSAValue {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone, Eq, Hash, PartialEq)]
+struct SSAValueArray<const SIZE: usize> {
+    v: [SSAValue; SIZE],
+}
+
+impl<const SIZE: usize> SSAValueArray<SIZE> {
+    /// Returns a new SSA reference
+    #[inline]
+    fn new(comps: &[SSAValue]) -> Self {
+        assert!(comps.len() > 0 && comps.len() <= SIZE);
+        let mut r = Self {
+            v: [SSAValue {
+                packed: NonZeroU32::MAX,
+            }; SIZE],
+        };
+        for i in 0..comps.len() {
+            r.v[i] = comps[i];
+        }
+        if comps.len() < SIZE {
+            r.v[SIZE - 1].packed =
+                (comps.len() as u32).wrapping_neg().try_into().unwrap();
+        }
+        r
+    }
+
+    fn comps(&self) -> u8 {
+        let size: u8 = SIZE.try_into().unwrap();
+        if self.v[SIZE - 1].packed.get() >= u32::MAX - (u32::from(size) - 1) {
+            self.v[SIZE - 1].packed.get().wrapping_neg() as u8
+        } else {
+            size
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<const SIZE: usize> Deref for SSAValueArray<SIZE> {
+    type Target = [SSAValue];
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &[SSAValue] {
+        let comps = usize::from(self.comps());
+        &self.v[..comps]
+    }
+}
+
+impl<const SIZE: usize> DerefMut for SSAValueArray<SIZE> {
+    fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut [SSAValue] {
+        let comps = usize::from(self.comps());
+        &mut self.v[..comps]
+    }
+}
+
 /// A reference to one or more SSA values
 ///
 /// Because each SSA value represents a single 1 or 32-bit scalar, we need a way
@@ -416,40 +470,46 @@ impl fmt::Display for SSAValue {
 /// registers, with the base register aligned to the number of values, aligned
 /// to the next power of two.
 ///
-/// An SSA reference can reference between 1 and 4 SSA values.  It dereferences
+/// An SSA reference can reference between 1 and 16 SSA values.  It dereferences
 /// to a slice for easy access to individual SSA values.  The structure is
 /// designed so that is always 16B, regardless of how many SSA values are
-/// referenced so it's easy and fairly cheap to copy around and embed in other
+/// referenced so it's easy and fairly cheap to clone and embed in other
 /// structures.
 #[derive(Clone, Eq, Hash, PartialEq)]
+enum SSARefInner {
+    Small(SSAValueArray<{ SSARef::SMALL_SIZE }>),
+    Large(Box<SSAValueArray<{ SSARef::LARGE_SIZE }>>),
+}
+#[derive(Clone, Eq, Hash, PartialEq)]
 pub struct SSARef {
-    v: [SSAValue; 4],
+    v: SSARefInner,
 }
 
+#[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
+const _: () = {
+    debug_assert!(std::mem::size_of::<SSARef>() == 16);
+};
+
 impl SSARef {
+    const SMALL_SIZE: usize = 4;
+    const LARGE_SIZE: usize = 16;
+
     /// Returns a new SSA reference
     #[inline]
-    fn new(comps: &[SSAValue]) -> SSARef {
-        assert!(comps.len() > 0 && comps.len() <= 4);
-        let mut r = SSARef {
-            v: [SSAValue {
-                packed: NonZeroU32::MAX,
-            }; 4],
-        };
-        for i in 0..comps.len() {
-            r.v[i] = comps[i];
+    pub fn new(comps: &[SSAValue]) -> SSARef {
+        SSARef {
+            v: if comps.len() > Self::SMALL_SIZE {
+                SSARefInner::Large(Box::new(SSAValueArray::new(comps)))
+            } else {
+                SSARefInner::Small(SSAValueArray::new(comps))
+            },
         }
-        if comps.len() < 4 {
-            r.v[3].packed =
-                (comps.len() as u32).wrapping_neg().try_into().unwrap();
-        }
-        r
     }
 
     fn from_iter(mut it: impl ExactSizeIterator<Item = SSAValue>) -> Self {
         let len = it.len();
-        assert!(len > 0 && len <= 4);
-        let v: [SSAValue; 4] = array::from_fn(|_| {
+        assert!(len > 0 && len <= Self::LARGE_SIZE);
+        let v: [SSAValue; Self::LARGE_SIZE] = array::from_fn(|_| {
             it.next().unwrap_or(SSAValue {
                 packed: NonZeroU32::MAX,
             })
@@ -459,18 +519,17 @@ impl SSARef {
 
     /// Returns the number of components in this SSA reference
     pub fn comps(&self) -> u8 {
-        if self.v[3].packed.get() >= u32::MAX - 2 {
-            self.v[3].packed.get().wrapping_neg() as u8
-        } else {
-            4
+        match &self.v {
+            SSARefInner::Small(x) => x.comps(),
+            SSARefInner::Large(x) => x.comps(),
         }
     }
 
     pub fn file(&self) -> Option<RegFile> {
         let comps = usize::from(self.comps());
-        let file = self.v[0].file();
+        let file = self[0].file();
         for i in 1..comps {
-            if self.v[i].file() != file {
+            if self[i].file() != file {
                 return None;
             }
         }
@@ -496,7 +555,7 @@ impl SSARef {
     }
 
     pub fn is_predicate(&self) -> bool {
-        if self.v[0].is_predicate() {
+        if self[0].is_predicate() {
             true
         } else {
             for ssa in &self[..] {
@@ -511,15 +570,19 @@ impl Deref for SSARef {
     type Target = [SSAValue];
 
     fn deref(&self) -> &[SSAValue] {
-        let comps = usize::from(self.comps());
-        &self.v[..comps]
+        match &self.v {
+            SSARefInner::Small(x) => x.deref(),
+            SSARefInner::Large(x) => x.deref(),
+        }
     }
 }
 
 impl DerefMut for SSARef {
     fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut [SSAValue] {
-        let comps = usize::from(self.comps());
-        &mut self.v[..comps]
+        match &mut self.v {
+            SSARefInner::Small(x) => x.deref_mut(),
+            SSARefInner::Large(x) => x.deref_mut(),
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -529,7 +592,7 @@ impl TryFrom<&[SSAValue]> for SSARef {
     fn try_from(comps: &[SSAValue]) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
         if comps.len() == 0 {
             Err("Empty vector")
-        } else if comps.len() > 4 {
+        } else if comps.len() > Self::LARGE_SIZE {
             Err("Too many vector components")
         } else {
             Ok(SSARef::new(comps))
diff --git a/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir_tests.rs b/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir_tests.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..526eb2283c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/ir_tests.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// Copyright © 2025 Valve Corporation
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+use crate::ir::*;
+
+#[test]
+fn test_ssa_ref_round_trip() {
+    for len in 1..16 {
+        let vec: Vec<_> = (0..len)
+            .map(|i| SSAValue::new(RegFile::GPR, 1337 ^ i ^ len))
+            .collect();
+
+        let ssa_ref = SSARef::new(&vec);
+        assert!(&ssa_ref[..] == &vec[..]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/lib.rs b/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/lib.rs
index fb6237f4a26..dc57a0b4f61 100644
--- a/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/lib.rs
+++ b/src/nouveau/compiler/nak/lib.rs
@@ -44,5 +44,8 @@ mod hw_tests;
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod hw_runner;
 
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod ir_tests;
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod nvdisasm_tests;