diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahAsserts.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahAsserts.cpp
index c23f30a55e9d5..7c9fa7598355f 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahAsserts.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahAsserts.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ void ShenandoahAsserts::print_obj(ShenandoahMessageBuffer& msg, oop obj) {
   }
   msg.append("  mark:%s\n", mw_ss.freeze());
   msg.append("  region: %s", ss.freeze());
+  if (obj_klass == vmClasses::Class_klass()) {
+    msg.append("  mirrored klass:       " PTR_FORMAT "\n", p2i(obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::klass_offset())));
+    msg.append("  mirrored array klass: " PTR_FORMAT "\n", p2i(obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::array_klass_offset())));
+  }
 }
 
 void ShenandoahAsserts::print_non_obj(ShenandoahMessageBuffer& msg, void* loc) {
@@ -268,20 +272,22 @@ void ShenandoahAsserts::assert_correct(void* interior_loc, oop obj, const char*
   }
 
   // Do additional checks for special objects: their fields can hold metadata as well.
-  // We want to check class loading/unloading did not corrupt them.
+  // We want to check class loading/unloading did not corrupt them. We can only reasonably
+  // trust the forwarded objects, as the from-space object can have the klasses effectively
+  // dead.
 
   if (Universe::is_fully_initialized() && (obj_klass == vmClasses::Class_klass())) {
-    Metadata* klass = obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::klass_offset());
+    const Metadata* klass = fwd->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::klass_offset());
     if (klass != nullptr && !Metaspace::contains(klass)) {
       print_failure(_safe_all, obj, interior_loc, nullptr, "Shenandoah assert_correct failed",
-                    "Instance class mirror should point to Metaspace",
+                    "Mirrored instance class should point to Metaspace",
                     file, line);
     }
 
-    Metadata* array_klass = obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::array_klass_offset());
+    const Metadata* array_klass = fwd->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::array_klass_offset());
     if (array_klass != nullptr && !Metaspace::contains(array_klass)) {
       print_failure(_safe_all, obj, interior_loc, nullptr, "Shenandoah assert_correct failed",
-                    "Array class mirror should point to Metaspace",
+                    "Mirrored array class should point to Metaspace",
                     file, line);
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahVerifier.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahVerifier.cpp
index cdf7848520765..727b90e82a2a5 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahVerifier.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/gc/shenandoah/shenandoahVerifier.cpp
@@ -244,18 +244,20 @@ class ShenandoahVerifyOopClosure : public BasicOopIterateClosure {
     }
 
     // Do additional checks for special objects: their fields can hold metadata as well.
-    // We want to check class loading/unloading did not corrupt them.
+    // We want to check class loading/unloading did not corrupt them. We can only reasonably
+    // trust the forwarded objects, as the from-space object can have the klasses effectively
+    // dead.
 
     if (obj_klass == vmClasses::Class_klass()) {
-      Metadata* klass = obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::klass_offset());
+      const Metadata* klass = fwd->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::klass_offset());
       check(ShenandoahAsserts::_safe_oop, obj,
             klass == nullptr || Metaspace::contains(klass),
-            "Instance class mirror should point to Metaspace");
+            "Mirrored instance class should point to Metaspace");
 
-      Metadata* array_klass = obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::array_klass_offset());
+      const Metadata* array_klass = obj->metadata_field(java_lang_Class::array_klass_offset());
       check(ShenandoahAsserts::_safe_oop, obj,
             array_klass == nullptr || Metaspace::contains(array_klass),
-            "Array class mirror should point to Metaspace");
+            "Mirrored array class should point to Metaspace");
     }
 
     // ------------ obj and fwd are safe at this point --------------