diff --git a/src/objects/intl-objects.tq b/src/objects/intl-objects.tq
index 672f419657..a5f18b9bb3 100644
--- a/src/objects/intl-objects.tq
+++ b/src/objects/intl-objects.tq
@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ macro LocaleCompareFastPath<T1: type, T2: type>(
 transitioning builtin StringFastLocaleCompare(implicit context: Context)(
     localeCompareFn: JSFunction, left: JSAny, right: JSAny,
     locales: JSAny): JSAny {
-  if (TaggedEqual(left, right)) return SmiConstant(0);
   try {
     const left = Cast<String>(left) otherwise Bailout;
+    if (TaggedEqual(left, right)) return SmiConstant(0);
     StringToSlice(left) otherwise LeftOneByte, LeftTwoByte;
   } label LeftOneByte(leftSlice: ConstSlice<char8>) {
     try {
diff --git a/test/mjsunit/regress/regress-12495.js b/test/mjsunit/regress/regress-12495.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..282ef2dd00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mjsunit/regress/regress-12495.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Copyright 2022 the V8 project authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// Flags: --allow-natives-syntax
+
+function opt() {
+  try {
+    Reflect.apply("".localeCompare, undefined, [undefined]);
+    return false;
+  } catch(e) {
+    return true;
+  }
+}
+
+%PrepareFunctionForOptimization(opt);
+assertTrue(opt());
+assertTrue(opt());
+%OptimizeFunctionOnNextCall(opt);
+assertTrue(opt());
+assertTrue(opt());