diff --git a/misc/cgo/testshared/shared_test.go b/misc/cgo/testshared/shared_test.go
index fda3d2ce76f..f8dabbe7a01 100644
--- a/misc/cgo/testshared/shared_test.go
+++ b/misc/cgo/testshared/shared_test.go
@@ -38,7 +38,15 @@ var testWork = flag.Bool("testwork", false, "if true, log and do not delete the
 
 // run runs a command and calls t.Errorf if it fails.
 func run(t *testing.T, msg string, args ...string) {
+	runWithEnv(t, msg, nil, args...)
+}
+
+// runWithEnv runs a command under the given environment and calls t.Errorf if it fails.
+func runWithEnv(t *testing.T, msg string, env []string, args ...string) {
 	c := exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
+	if len(env) != 0 {
+		c.Env = append(os.Environ(), env...)
+	}
 	if output, err := c.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("executing %s (%s) failed %s:\n%s", strings.Join(args, " "), msg, err, output)
 	}
@@ -1034,3 +1042,11 @@ func TestGeneratedHash(t *testing.T) {
 func TestPackageOrder(t *testing.T) {
 	goCmd(t, "install", "-buildmode=shared", "-linkshared", "./issue39777/a", "./issue39777/b")
 }
+
+// Test that GC data are generated correctly by the linker when it needs a type defined in
+// a shared library. See issue 39927.
+func TestGCData(t *testing.T) {
+	goCmd(t, "install", "-buildmode=shared", "-linkshared", "./gcdata/p")
+	goCmd(t, "build", "-linkshared", "./gcdata/main")
+	runWithEnv(t, "running gcdata/main", []string{"GODEBUG=clobberfree=1"}, "./main")
+}
diff --git a/misc/cgo/testshared/testdata/gcdata/main/main.go b/misc/cgo/testshared/testdata/gcdata/main/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..394862fd94c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/testshared/testdata/gcdata/main/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+// Copyright 2020 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.
+
+// Test that GC data is generated correctly for global
+// variables with types defined in a shared library.
+// See issue 39927.
+
+// This test run under GODEBUG=clobberfree=1. The check
+// *x[i] == 12345 depends on this debug mode to clobber
+// the value if the object is freed prematurely.
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"runtime"
+	"testshared/gcdata/p"
+)
+
+var x p.T
+
+func main() {
+	for i := range x {
+		x[i] = new(int)
+		*x[i] = 12345
+	}
+	runtime.GC()
+	runtime.GC()
+	runtime.GC()
+	for i := range x {
+		if *x[i] != 12345 {
+			fmt.Printf("x[%d] == %d, want 12345\n", i, *x[i])
+			panic("FAIL")
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/misc/cgo/testshared/testdata/gcdata/p/p.go b/misc/cgo/testshared/testdata/gcdata/p/p.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1fee75429ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/cgo/testshared/testdata/gcdata/p/p.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// Copyright 2020 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.
+
+package p
+
+type T [10]*int
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/decodesym.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/decodesym.go
index e9c87efe379..21bcc3a726a 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/decodesym.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/decodesym.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"cmd/link/internal/loader"
 	"cmd/link/internal/sym"
 	"debug/elf"
+	"log"
 )
 
 // Decoding the type.* symbols.	 This has to be in sync with
@@ -229,8 +230,15 @@ func decodetypeGcmask(ctxt *Link, s loader.Sym) []byte {
 		ptrdata := decodetypePtrdata(ctxt.Arch, symData)
 		sect := findShlibSection(ctxt, ctxt.loader.SymPkg(s), addr)
 		if sect != nil {
-			r := make([]byte, ptrdata/int64(ctxt.Arch.PtrSize))
-			sect.ReadAt(r, int64(addr-sect.Addr))
+			bits := ptrdata / int64(ctxt.Arch.PtrSize)
+			r := make([]byte, (bits+7)/8)
+			// ldshlibsyms avoids closing the ELF file so sect.ReadAt works.
+			// If we remove this read (and the ones in decodetypeGcprog), we
+			// can close the file.
+			_, err := sect.ReadAt(r, int64(addr-sect.Addr))
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
 			return r
 		}
 		Exitf("cannot find gcmask for %s", ctxt.loader.SymName(s))
@@ -251,9 +259,15 @@ func decodetypeGcprog(ctxt *Link, s loader.Sym) []byte {
 			// A gcprog is a 4-byte uint32 indicating length, followed by
 			// the actual program.
 			progsize := make([]byte, 4)
-			sect.ReadAt(progsize, int64(addr-sect.Addr))
+			_, err := sect.ReadAt(progsize, int64(addr-sect.Addr))
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
 			progbytes := make([]byte, ctxt.Arch.ByteOrder.Uint32(progsize))
-			sect.ReadAt(progbytes, int64(addr-sect.Addr+4))
+			_, err = sect.ReadAt(progbytes, int64(addr-sect.Addr+4))
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Fatal(err)
+			}
 			return append(progsize, progbytes...)
 		}
 		Exitf("cannot find gcmask for %s", ctxt.loader.SymName(s))
@@ -268,7 +282,7 @@ func decodetypeGcprog(ctxt *Link, s loader.Sym) []byte {
 func findShlibSection(ctxt *Link, path string, addr uint64) *elf.Section {
 	for _, shlib := range ctxt.Shlibs {
 		if shlib.Path == path {
-			for _, sect := range shlib.File.Sections {
+			for _, sect := range shlib.File.Sections[1:] { // skip the NULL section
 				if sect.Addr <= addr && addr <= sect.Addr+sect.Size {
 					return sect
 				}
@@ -279,8 +293,5 @@ func findShlibSection(ctxt *Link, path string, addr uint64) *elf.Section {
 }
 
 func decodetypeGcprogShlib(ctxt *Link, data []byte) uint64 {
-	if ctxt.Arch.Family == sys.ARM64 {
-		return 0
-	}
 	return decodeInuxi(ctxt.Arch, data[2*int32(ctxt.Arch.PtrSize)+8+1*int32(ctxt.Arch.PtrSize):], ctxt.Arch.PtrSize)
 }
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go
index 7b6fd9594df..b0a9613e4f4 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go
@@ -2126,7 +2126,9 @@ func ldshlibsyms(ctxt *Link, shlib string) {
 		Errorf(nil, "cannot open shared library: %s", libpath)
 		return
 	}
-	defer f.Close()
+	// Keep the file open as decodetypeGcprog needs to read from it.
+	// TODO: fix. Maybe mmap the file.
+	//defer f.Close()
 
 	hash, err := readnote(f, ELF_NOTE_GO_NAME, ELF_NOTE_GOABIHASH_TAG)
 	if err != nil {