diff --git a/py/mpconfig.h b/py/mpconfig.h
index 287b15aaef..3d9ce8bb55 100644
--- a/py/mpconfig.h
+++ b/py/mpconfig.h
@@ -351,6 +351,18 @@
 // Convenience definition for whether any native or inline assembler emitter is enabled
 #define MICROPY_EMIT_MACHINE_CODE (MICROPY_EMIT_NATIVE || MICROPY_EMIT_INLINE_ASM)
 
+// Whether native relocatable code loaded from .mpy files is explicitly tracked
+// so that the GC cannot reclaim it.  Needed on architectures that allocate
+// executable memory on the MicroPython heap and don't explicitly track this
+// data some other way.
+#ifndef MICROPY_PERSISTENT_CODE_TRACK_RELOC_CODE
+#if !MICROPY_EMIT_MACHINE_CODE || defined(MP_PLAT_ALLOC_EXEC) || defined(MP_PLAT_COMMIT_EXEC)
+#define MICROPY_PERSISTENT_CODE_TRACK_RELOC_CODE (0)
+#else
+#define MICROPY_PERSISTENT_CODE_TRACK_RELOC_CODE (1)
+#endif
+#endif
+
 /*****************************************************************************/
 /* Compiler configuration                                                    */
 
diff --git a/py/mpstate.h b/py/mpstate.h
index 5f6cf55936..2519c77e2d 100644
--- a/py/mpstate.h
+++ b/py/mpstate.h
@@ -167,6 +167,11 @@ typedef struct _mp_state_vm_t {
     mp_obj_dict_t *mp_module_builtins_override_dict;
     #endif
 
+    #if MICROPY_PERSISTENT_CODE_TRACK_RELOC_CODE
+    // An mp_obj_list_t that tracks relocated native code to prevent the GC from reclaiming them.
+    mp_obj_t track_reloc_code_list;
+    #endif
+
     // include any root pointers defined by a port
     MICROPY_PORT_ROOT_POINTERS
 
diff --git a/py/persistentcode.c b/py/persistentcode.c
index 386ea49477..da3234a5fe 100644
--- a/py/persistentcode.c
+++ b/py/persistentcode.c
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  * The MIT License (MIT)
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Damien P. George
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2020 Damien P. George
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
  * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
@@ -516,6 +516,18 @@ STATIC mp_raw_code_t *load_raw_code(mp_reader_t *reader, qstr_window_t *qw) {
         fun_data = MP_PLAT_COMMIT_EXEC(fun_data, fun_data_len, opt_ri);
         #else
         if (prelude.scope_flags & MP_SCOPE_FLAG_VIPERRELOC) {
+            #if MICROPY_PERSISTENT_CODE_TRACK_RELOC_CODE
+            // If native code needs relocations then it's not guaranteed that a pointer to
+            // the head of `buf` (containing the machine code) will be retained for the GC
+            // to trace.  This is because native functions can start inside `buf` and so
+            // it's possible that the only GC-reachable pointers are pointers inside `buf`.
+            // So put this `buf` on a list of reachable root pointers.
+            if (MP_STATE_PORT(track_reloc_code_list) == MP_OBJ_NULL) {
+                MP_STATE_PORT(track_reloc_code_list) = mp_obj_new_list(0, NULL);
+            }
+            mp_obj_list_append(MP_STATE_PORT(track_reloc_code_list), MP_OBJ_FROM_PTR(fun_data));
+            #endif
+            // Do the relocations.
             mp_native_relocate(&ri, fun_data, (uintptr_t)fun_data);
         }
         #endif
diff --git a/py/runtime.c b/py/runtime.c
index 78da386919..38da2f4538 100644
--- a/py/runtime.c
+++ b/py/runtime.c
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ void mp_init(void) {
     MP_STATE_VM(mp_module_builtins_override_dict) = NULL;
     #endif
 
+    #if MICROPY_PERSISTENT_CODE_TRACK_RELOC_CODE
+    MP_STATE_VM(track_reloc_code_list) = MP_OBJ_NULL;
+    #endif
+
     #if MICROPY_PY_OS_DUPTERM
     for (size_t i = 0; i < MICROPY_PY_OS_DUPTERM; ++i) {
         MP_STATE_VM(dupterm_objs[i]) = MP_OBJ_NULL;
diff --git a/tests/micropython/import_mpy_native_gc.py b/tests/micropython/import_mpy_native_gc.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e8fac8f179
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/micropython/import_mpy_native_gc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# Test that native code loaded from a .mpy file is retained after a GC.
+
+try:
+    import gc, sys, uio, uos
+
+    sys.implementation.mpy
+    uio.IOBase
+    uos.mount
+except (ImportError, AttributeError):
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
+
+class UserFile(uio.IOBase):
+    def __init__(self, data):
+        self.data = memoryview(data)
+        self.pos = 0
+
+    def readinto(self, buf):
+        n = min(len(buf), len(self.data) - self.pos)
+        buf[:n] = self.data[self.pos : self.pos + n]
+        self.pos += n
+        return n
+
+    def ioctl(self, req, arg):
+        return 0
+
+
+class UserFS:
+    def __init__(self, files):
+        self.files = files
+
+    def mount(self, readonly, mksfs):
+        pass
+
+    def umount(self):
+        pass
+
+    def stat(self, path):
+        if path in self.files:
+            return (32768, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)
+        raise OSError
+
+    def open(self, path, mode):
+        return UserFile(self.files[path])
+
+
+# Pre-compiled examples/natmod/features0 example for various architectures, keyed
+# by the required value of sys.implementation.mpy.
+features0_file_contents = {
+    # -march=x64 -mcache-lookup-bc
+    0xB05: b'M\x05\x0b\x1f \x84b\xe9/\x00\x00\x00SH\x8b\x1ds\x00\x00\x00\xbe\x02\x00\x00\x00\xffS\x18\xbf\x01\x00\x00\x00H\x85\xc0u\x0cH\x8bC \xbe\x02\x00\x00\x00[\xff\xe0H\x0f\xaf\xf8H\xff\xc8\xeb\xe6ATUSH\x8b\x1dA\x00\x00\x00H\x8b\x7f\x08L\x8bc(A\xff\xd4H\x8d5\x1f\x00\x00\x00H\x89\xc5H\x8b\x05-\x00\x00\x00\x0f\xb78\xffShH\x89\xefA\xff\xd4H\x8b\x03[]A\\\xc3\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x05\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x90\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x84@\x12factorial\x10\x00\x00\r \x01"\x9f\x1c\x01\x1e\xff',
+    # -march=armv7m
+    0x1605: b"M\x05\x16\x1f \x84\x12\x1a\xe0\x00\x00\x13\xb5\nK\nJ{D\x9cX\x02!\xe3h\x98G\x03F\x01 3\xb9\x02!#i\x01\x93\x02\xb0\xbd\xe8\x10@\x18GXC\x01;\xf4\xe7\x00\xbfj\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\xf8\xb5\tN\tK~D\xf4X@hgi\xb8G\x05F\x07K\x07I\xf2XyD\x10\x88ck\x98G(F\xb8G h\xf8\xbd6\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x04\x00\x00\x00\x1c\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x05\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x80\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x84\x00\x12factorial\x10\x00\x00\r<\x01>\x9f8\x01:\xff",
+}
+
+# Populate other armv7m-derived archs based on armv7m.
+for arch in (0x1A05, 0x1E05, 0x2205):
+    features0_file_contents[arch] = features0_file_contents[0x1605]
+
+if sys.implementation.mpy not in features0_file_contents:
+    print("SKIP")
+    raise SystemExit
+
+# These are the test .mpy files.
+user_files = {"/features0.mpy": features0_file_contents[sys.implementation.mpy]}
+
+# Create and mount a user filesystem.
+uos.mount(UserFS(user_files), "/userfs")
+sys.path.append("/userfs")
+
+# Import the native function.
+gc.collect()
+from features0 import factorial
+
+# Free the module that contained the function.
+del sys.modules["features0"]
+
+# Run a GC cycle which should reclaim the module but not the function.
+gc.collect()
+
+# Allocate lots of fragmented memory to overwrite anything that was just freed by the GC.
+for i in range(1000):
+    []
+
+# Run the native function, it should not have been freed or overwritten.
+print(factorial(10))
+
+# Unmount and undo path addition.
+uos.umount("/userfs")
+sys.path.pop()
diff --git a/tests/micropython/import_mpy_native_gc.py.exp b/tests/micropython/import_mpy_native_gc.py.exp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3fbd4a8698
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/micropython/import_mpy_native_gc.py.exp
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3628800