diff --git a/gdb/c-lang.c b/gdb/c-lang.c
index 484f81e455b..677e76ee71b 100644
--- a/gdb/c-lang.c
+++ b/gdb/c-lang.c
@@ -615,9 +615,6 @@ c_string_operation::evaluate (struct type *expect_type,
       internal_error (_("unhandled c_string_type"));
     }
 
-  /* Ensure TYPE_LENGTH is valid for TYPE.  */
-  check_typedef (type);
-
   /* If the caller expects an array of some integral type,
      satisfy them.  If something odder is expected, rely on the
      caller to cast.  */
diff --git a/gdb/gdbtypes.c b/gdb/gdbtypes.c
index 10e585066f7..9eecf357152 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbtypes.c
+++ b/gdb/gdbtypes.c
@@ -1648,9 +1648,7 @@ type_name_or_error (struct type *type)
 	 objfile ? objfile_name (objfile) : "<arch>");
 }
 
-/* Lookup a typedef or primitive type named NAME, visible in lexical
-   block BLOCK.  If NOERR is nonzero, return zero if NAME is not
-   suitably defined.  */
+/* See gdbtypes.h.  */
 
 struct type *
 lookup_typename (const struct language_defn *language,
@@ -1662,7 +1660,12 @@ lookup_typename (const struct language_defn *language,
   sym = lookup_symbol_in_language (name, block, VAR_DOMAIN,
 				   language->la_language, NULL).symbol;
   if (sym != NULL && sym->aclass () == LOC_TYPEDEF)
-    return sym->type ();
+    {
+      struct type *type = sym->type ();
+      /* Ensure the length of TYPE is valid.  */
+      check_typedef (type);
+      return type;
+    }
 
   if (noerr)
     return NULL;
diff --git a/gdb/gdbtypes.h b/gdb/gdbtypes.h
index 319a7731bca..f56de4544b5 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbtypes.h
+++ b/gdb/gdbtypes.h
@@ -2586,8 +2586,18 @@ extern void check_stub_method_group (struct type *, int);
 
 extern char *gdb_mangle_name (struct type *, int, int);
 
-extern struct type *lookup_typename (const struct language_defn *,
-				     const char *, const struct block *, int);
+/* Lookup a typedef or primitive type named NAME, visible in lexical block
+   BLOCK.  If NOERR is nonzero, return zero if NAME is not suitably
+   defined.
+
+   If this function finds a suitable type then check_typedef is called on
+   the type, this ensures that if the type being returned is a typedef
+   then the length of the type will be correct.  The original typedef will
+   still be returned, not the result of calling check_typedef.  */
+
+extern struct type *lookup_typename (const struct language_defn *language,
+				     const char *name,
+				     const struct block *block, int noerr);
 
 extern struct type *lookup_template_type (const char *, struct type *,
 					  const struct block *);
diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/printf-wchar_t.c b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/printf-wchar_t.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4d13fd3c961
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/printf-wchar_t.c
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/* This testcase is part of GDB, the GNU debugger.
+
+   Copyright 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program 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 General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.  */
+
+#include <wchar.h>
+
+const wchar_t wide_str[] = L"wide string";
+
+int
+main (void)
+{
+  return 0;
+}
diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/printf-wchar_t.exp b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/printf-wchar_t.exp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..85c6edf292c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/printf-wchar_t.exp
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Copyright 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program 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 General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+standard_testfile
+
+if {[prepare_for_testing "failed to prepare" $testfile $srcfile]} {
+    return -1
+}
+
+if {![runto_main]} {
+    return -1
+}
+
+gdb_test {printf "%ls\n", wide_str} "^wide string"
