diff --git a/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/mod.rs b/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/mod.rs
index 1bfc5805bc8..16ecfce49d0 100644
--- a/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/mod.rs
+++ b/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/mod.rs
@@ -112,19 +112,28 @@ fn borrowck<'a, 'tcx>(tcx: TyCtxt<'a, 'tcx, 'tcx>, owner_def_id: DefId) {
     // is not yet stolen.
     tcx.mir_validated(owner_def_id).borrow();
 
-    let cfg = cfg::CFG::new(bccx.tcx, &body);
-    let AnalysisData { all_loans,
-                       loans: loan_dfcx,
-                       move_data: flowed_moves } =
-        build_borrowck_dataflow_data(bccx, &cfg, body_id);
-
-    check_loans::check_loans(bccx, &loan_dfcx, &flowed_moves, &all_loans, body);
+    // option dance because you can't capture an uninitialized variable
+    // by mut-ref.
+    let mut cfg = None;
+    if let Some(AnalysisData { all_loans,
+                               loans: loan_dfcx,
+                               move_data: flowed_moves }) =
+        build_borrowck_dataflow_data(bccx, false, body_id,
+                                     |bccx| {
+                                         cfg = Some(cfg::CFG::new(bccx.tcx, &body));
+                                         cfg.as_mut().unwrap()
+                                     })
+    {
+        check_loans::check_loans(bccx, &loan_dfcx, &flowed_moves, &all_loans, body);
+    }
 }
 
-fn build_borrowck_dataflow_data<'a, 'tcx>(this: &mut BorrowckCtxt<'a, 'tcx>,
-                                          cfg: &cfg::CFG,
-                                          body_id: hir::BodyId)
-                                          -> AnalysisData<'a, 'tcx>
+fn build_borrowck_dataflow_data<'a, 'c, 'tcx, F>(this: &mut BorrowckCtxt<'a, 'tcx>,
+                                                 force_analysis: bool,
+                                                 body_id: hir::BodyId,
+                                                 get_cfg: F)
+                                                 -> Option<AnalysisData<'a, 'tcx>>
+    where F: FnOnce(&mut BorrowckCtxt<'a, 'tcx>) -> &'c cfg::CFG
 {
     // Check the body of fn items.
     let tcx = this.tcx;
@@ -137,6 +146,18 @@ fn build_borrowck_dataflow_data<'a, 'tcx>(this: &mut BorrowckCtxt<'a, 'tcx>,
     let (all_loans, move_data) =
         gather_loans::gather_loans_in_fn(this, body_id);
 
+    if !force_analysis && move_data.is_empty() && all_loans.is_empty() {
+        // large arrays of data inserted as constants can take a lot of
+        // time and memory to borrow-check - see issue #36799. However,
+        // they don't have lvalues, so no borrow-check is actually needed.
+        // Recognize that case and skip borrow-checking.
+        debug!("skipping loan propagation for {:?} because of no loans", body_id);
+        return None;
+    } else {
+        debug!("propagating loans in {:?}", body_id);
+    }
+
+    let cfg = get_cfg(this);
     let mut loan_dfcx =
         DataFlowContext::new(this.tcx,
                              "borrowck",
@@ -159,9 +180,9 @@ fn build_borrowck_dataflow_data<'a, 'tcx>(this: &mut BorrowckCtxt<'a, 'tcx>,
                                                       id_range,
                                                       body);
 
-    AnalysisData { all_loans: all_loans,
-                   loans: loan_dfcx,
-                   move_data:flowed_moves }
+    Some(AnalysisData { all_loans: all_loans,
+                        loans: loan_dfcx,
+                        move_data:flowed_moves })
 }
 
 /// Accessor for introspective clients inspecting `AnalysisData` and
@@ -178,8 +199,8 @@ pub fn build_borrowck_dataflow_data_for_fn<'a, 'tcx>(
     let region_maps = tcx.region_maps(owner_def_id);
     let mut bccx = BorrowckCtxt { tcx, tables, region_maps, owner_def_id };
 
-    let dataflow_data = build_borrowck_dataflow_data(&mut bccx, cfg, body_id);
-    (bccx, dataflow_data)
+    let dataflow_data = build_borrowck_dataflow_data(&mut bccx, true, body_id, |_| cfg);
+    (bccx, dataflow_data.unwrap())
 }
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/move_data.rs b/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/move_data.rs
index 0a31905c792..fd80e8320d6 100644
--- a/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/move_data.rs
+++ b/src/librustc_borrowck/borrowck/move_data.rs
@@ -220,6 +220,15 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> MoveData<'tcx> {
         }
     }
 
+    /// return true if there are no trackable assignments or moves
+    /// in this move data - that means that there is nothing that
+    /// could cause a borrow error.
+    pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.moves.borrow().is_empty() &&
+            self.path_assignments.borrow().is_empty() &&
+            self.var_assignments.borrow().is_empty()
+    }
+
     pub fn path_loan_path(&self, index: MovePathIndex) -> Rc<LoanPath<'tcx>> {
         (*self.paths.borrow())[index.get()].loan_path.clone()
     }