diff --git a/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/const_eval/eval_queries.rs b/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/const_eval/eval_queries.rs
index ff27e400016..96b3ec6f187 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/const_eval/eval_queries.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_const_eval/src/const_eval/eval_queries.rs
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ pub(super) fn op_to_const<'tcx>(
                 let pointee_ty = imm.layout.ty.builtin_deref(false).unwrap(); // `false` = no raw ptrs
                 debug_assert!(
                     matches!(
-                        ecx.tcx.struct_tail_without_normalization(pointee_ty).kind(),
+                        ecx.tcx.struct_tail_for_codegen(pointee_ty, ecx.param_env).kind(),
                         ty::Str | ty::Slice(..),
                     ),
                     "`ConstValue::Slice` is for slice-tailed types only, but got {}",
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_hir_typeck/src/expectation.rs b/compiler/rustc_hir_typeck/src/expectation.rs
index 91deae4174b..76ae41db5c5 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_hir_typeck/src/expectation.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_hir_typeck/src/expectation.rs
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> Expectation<'tcx> {
     /// See the test case `test/ui/coerce-expect-unsized.rs` and #20169
     /// for examples of where this comes up,.
     pub(super) fn rvalue_hint(fcx: &FnCtxt<'a, 'tcx>, ty: Ty<'tcx>) -> Expectation<'tcx> {
-        match fcx.tcx.struct_tail_without_normalization(ty).kind() {
+        // FIXME: This is not right, even in the old solver...
+        match fcx.tcx.struct_tail_raw(ty, |ty| ty, || {}).kind() {
             ty::Slice(_) | ty::Str | ty::Dynamic(..) => ExpectRvalueLikeUnsized(ty),
             _ => ExpectHasType(ty),
         }
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_middle/src/ty/util.rs b/compiler/rustc_middle/src/ty/util.rs
index fc5e0c44d96..6be3dc423de 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_middle/src/ty/util.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_middle/src/ty/util.rs
@@ -171,14 +171,6 @@ impl<'tcx> TyCtxt<'tcx> {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Attempts to returns the deeply last field of nested structures, but
-    /// does not apply any normalization in its search. Returns the same type
-    /// if input `ty` is not a structure at all.
-    pub fn struct_tail_without_normalization(self, ty: Ty<'tcx>) -> Ty<'tcx> {
-        let tcx = self;
-        tcx.struct_tail_raw(ty, |ty| ty, || {})
-    }
-
     /// Returns the deeply last field of nested structures, or the same type if
     /// not a structure at all. Corresponds to the only possible unsized field,
     /// and its type can be used to determine unsizing strategy.
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_trait_selection/src/traits/project.rs b/compiler/rustc_trait_selection/src/traits/project.rs
index 0e4233ba7bc..8a17d7ed641 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_trait_selection/src/traits/project.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_trait_selection/src/traits/project.rs
@@ -1149,10 +1149,10 @@ fn assemble_candidates_from_impls<'cx, 'tcx>(
                         | ty::Never
                         // Extern types have unit metadata, according to RFC 2850
                         | ty::Foreign(_)
-                        // If returned by `struct_tail_without_normalization` this is a unit struct
+                        // If returned by `struct_tail` this is a unit struct
                         // without any fields, or not a struct, and therefore is Sized.
                         | ty::Adt(..)
-                        // If returned by `struct_tail_without_normalization` this is the empty tuple.
+                        // If returned by `struct_tail` this is the empty tuple.
                         | ty::Tuple(..)
                         // Integers and floats are always Sized, and so have unit type metadata.
                         | ty::Infer(ty::InferTy::IntVar(_) | ty::InferTy::FloatVar(..)) => true,
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_ty_utils/src/layout.rs b/compiler/rustc_ty_utils/src/layout.rs
index 1eb03fc3bd6..244a6afcf97 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_ty_utils/src/layout.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_ty_utils/src/layout.rs
@@ -219,9 +219,13 @@ fn layout_of_uncached<'tcx>(
                             // its struct tail cannot be normalized either, so try to get a
                             // more descriptive layout error here, which will lead to less confusing
                             // diagnostics.
+                            //
+                            // We use the raw struct tail function here to get the first tail
+                            // that is an alias, which is likely the cause of the normalization
+                            // error.
                             match tcx.try_normalize_erasing_regions(
                                 param_env,
-                                tcx.struct_tail_without_normalization(pointee),
+                                tcx.struct_tail_raw(pointee, |ty| ty, || {}),
                             ) {
                                 Ok(_) => {}
                                 Err(better_err) => {