diff --git a/am/bootstrap.am b/am/bootstrap.am
index eb6880ea8..06acd81fe 100644
--- a/am/bootstrap.am
+++ b/am/bootstrap.am
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ SOURCES =					\
   language/cps/prune-top-level-scopes.scm	\
   language/cps/reify-primitives.scm		\
   language/cps/renumber.scm			\
+  language/cps/return-types.scm			\
   language/cps/rotate-loops.scm			\
   language/cps/optimize.scm			\
   language/cps/simplify.scm			\
diff --git a/module/Makefile.am b/module/Makefile.am
index 303f25e47..f6f5a9bb8 100644
--- a/module/Makefile.am
+++ b/module/Makefile.am
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ SOURCES =					\
   language/cps/prune-top-level-scopes.scm	\
   language/cps/reify-primitives.scm		\
   language/cps/renumber.scm			\
+  language/cps/return-types.scm			\
   language/cps/rotate-loops.scm			\
   language/cps/self-references.scm		\
   language/cps/simplify.scm			\
diff --git a/module/language/cps/return-types.scm b/module/language/cps/return-types.scm
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..899826a71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/module/language/cps/return-types.scm
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+;;; Continuation-passing style (CPS) intermediate language (IL)
+
+;; Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+;;;; This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+;;;; modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+;;;; License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+;;;; version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+;;;;
+;;;; This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+;;;; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+;;;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+;;;; Lesser General Public License for more details.
+;;;;
+;;;; You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+;;;; License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+;;;; Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+
+;;; Commentary:
+;;;
+;;; Calls to well-known functions might be able to elide the values
+;;; count check if the callee has a known return arity.
+;;;
+;;; Code:
+
+(define-module (language cps return-types)
+  #:use-module (ice-9 match)
+  #:use-module (language cps)
+  #:use-module (language cps intmap)
+  #:use-module (language cps intset)
+  #:use-module (language cps utils)
+  #:use-module (language cps with-cps)
+  #:export (optimize-known-return-types))
+
+;; analysis := intmap of function label -> return-type
+;; return-type := 'none | (value-type ...) | 'unknown
+;; value-type := '_
+;; tail-callers := intmap of callee label -> intset of caller label
+;;
+;; fixpoint on analysis
+
+(define (adjoin-unknown-return-type fn analysis)
+  (intmap-replace analysis fn 'unknown))
+
+(define (adjoin-return-type fn type analysis)
+  (match (intmap-ref analysis fn)
+    ((? (lambda (type*) (equal? type type*)))
+     analysis)
+    ('none
+     (intmap-replace analysis fn type))
+    (_
+     (adjoin-unknown-return-type fn analysis))))
+
+(define (analyze1 fn body conts tail-callers analysis)
+  (define preds (compute-predecessors conts fn #:labels body))
+  (define (adjoin-tail-caller caller callee tail-callers)
+    (intmap-add tail-callers callee (intset caller) intset-union))
+  (define (visit-tail-cont cont tail-callers analysis)
+    ;; Predecessors of tail are only calls and $values.
+    (match cont
+      (($ $kfun) (values tail-callers analysis))
+      (($ $kargs _ _ ($ $continue _ _ exp))
+       (match exp
+         (($ $call proc args)
+          (values tail-callers
+                  (adjoin-unknown-return-type fn analysis)))
+         (($ $callk k proc args)
+          (values (adjoin-tail-caller fn k tail-callers)
+                  analysis))
+         (($ $values vals)
+          (let ((type (map (lambda (_) '_) vals)))
+            (values tail-callers
+                    (adjoin-return-type fn type analysis))))))))
+  (match (intmap-ref conts fn)
+    (($ $kfun src meta self tail entry)
+     (fold2
+      (lambda (pred tail-callers analysis)
+        (visit-tail-cont (intmap-ref conts pred) tail-callers analysis))
+      (intmap-ref preds tail)
+      tail-callers
+      analysis))))
+
+(define (analyze/local functions conts)
+  (let ((tail-callers (intmap-map (lambda (k v) empty-intset) functions))
+        (analysis (intmap-map (lambda (k v) 'none) functions)))
+    (intmap-fold (lambda (fn body tail-callers analysis)
+                   (analyze1 fn body conts tail-callers analysis))
+                 functions tail-callers analysis)))
+
+(define (propagate fn tail-callers worklist analysis)
+  (let ((preds (intmap-ref tail-callers fn))
+        (type (intmap-ref analysis fn)))
+    (intset-fold (lambda (pred worklist analysis)
+                   (let ((analysis* (adjoin-return-type pred type analysis)))
+                     (values (if (eq? analysis analysis*)
+                                 worklist
+                                 (intset-add worklist pred))
+                             analysis*)))
+                 preds worklist analysis)))
+
+(define (analyze/global tail-callers analysis)
+  (worklist-fold
+   (lambda (worklist analysis)
+     (intset-fold (lambda (fn worklist analysis)
+                    (propagate fn tail-callers worklist analysis))
+                  worklist empty-intset analysis))
+   (intmap-keys tail-callers)
+   analysis))
+
+(define (compute-return-types functions conts)
+  (call-with-values (lambda () (analyze/local functions conts))
+    (lambda (tail-callers analysis)
+      (analyze/global tail-callers analysis))))
+
+(define (optimize-return-continuation conts k req rest kargs type)
+  (let ((nvalues (length type)))
+    (cond
+     ((= nvalues (length req))
+      (if rest
+          (let ((vars (map (lambda (_) (fresh-var)) req)))
+            (with-cps conts
+              (letv nil)
+              (letk kvals ($kargs ('nil) (nil)
+                            ($continue kargs #f
+                              ($values ,(append vars (list nil))))))
+              (letk knil ($kargs req vars
+                           ($continue kvals #f ($const '()))))
+              knil))
+          (values conts kargs)))
+     (else
+      (values conts k)))))
+
+(define (optimize-known-return-types conts)
+  (define functions (compute-reachable-functions conts))
+  (define return-types (compute-return-types functions conts))
+  (define (fold-live-conts f functions seed)
+    (intmap-fold
+     (lambda (fn body seed)
+       (intset-fold (lambda (label seed)
+                      (f label (intmap-ref conts label) seed))
+                    body seed))
+     functions seed))
+  (with-fresh-name-state conts
+    (fold-live-conts
+     (lambda (label cont conts)
+       (match cont
+         (($ $kargs names vars
+             ($ $continue k src ($ $callk fn proc args)))
+          ;; If the callee has known return type, we
+          ;; might be able to avoid the number-of-values check.
+          (match (intmap-ref return-types fn)
+            ('none
+             ;; Function does not return.  Do nothing for now.
+             conts)
+            ('unknown
+             ;; Unknown return type.  Leave as is.
+             conts)
+            (type
+             ;; Known return type.  Check if compatible with
+             ;; continuation, and if so, elide the number-of-values
+             ;; check.
+             (match (intmap-ref conts k)
+               (($ $kreceive ($ $arity req () rest () #f) kargs)
+                (with-cps conts
+                  (let$ k* (optimize-return-continuation k req rest kargs type))
+                  (setk label ($kargs names vars
+                                ($continue k* src ($callk fn proc args))))))
+               (_ conts)))))
+         (_ conts)))
+     functions conts)))
diff --git a/module/language/tree-il/compile-cps.scm b/module/language/tree-il/compile-cps.scm
index 918e9044a..de565ec2b 100644
--- a/module/language/tree-il/compile-cps.scm
+++ b/module/language/tree-il/compile-cps.scm
@@ -1587,7 +1587,7 @@ use as the proc slot."
     (((k . v) . meta)
      (let ((meta (sanitize-meta meta)))
        (case k
-         ((arg-representations) meta)
+         ((arg-representations noreturn return-type) meta)
          (else (acons k v meta)))))))
 
 ;;; The conversion from Tree-IL to CPS essentially wraps every