diff --git a/tvix/eval/src/builtins/mod.rs b/tvix/eval/src/builtins/mod.rs
index d85d6567e..58fe6bbbc 100644
--- a/tvix/eval/src/builtins/mod.rs
+++ b/tvix/eval/src/builtins/mod.rs
@@ -291,6 +291,12 @@ mod pure_builtins {
 
     #[builtin("elemAt")]
     async fn builtin_elem_at(co: GenCo, xs: Value, i: Value) -> Result<Value, ErrorKind> {
+        if xs.is_catchable() {
+            return Ok(xs);
+        }
+        if i.is_catchable() {
+            return Ok(i);
+        }
         let xs = xs.to_list()?;
         let i = i.as_int()?;
         if i < 0 {
diff --git a/tvix/eval/src/tests/tvix_tests/eval-okay-builtins-elemAt-catchable.exp b/tvix/eval/src/tests/tvix_tests/eval-okay-builtins-elemAt-catchable.exp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c508d5366
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/eval/src/tests/tvix_tests/eval-okay-builtins-elemAt-catchable.exp
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+false
diff --git a/tvix/eval/src/tests/tvix_tests/eval-okay-builtins-elemAt-catchable.nix b/tvix/eval/src/tests/tvix_tests/eval-okay-builtins-elemAt-catchable.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97be4b013
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/eval/src/tests/tvix_tests/eval-okay-builtins-elemAt-catchable.nix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+(builtins.tryEval (builtins.elemAt (throw "fred") 0)).success