diff --git a/lib/compress.js b/lib/compress.js
index 5f1d63ff..f683e874 100644
--- a/lib/compress.js
+++ b/lib/compress.js
@@ -5789,7 +5789,7 @@ merge(Compressor.prototype, {
                 if (!tail_refs) continue;
                 if (head_refs.start.block !== tail_refs.start.block
                     || !mergeable(head_refs, tail_refs)
-                    || head_refs.start.loop && !mergeable(tail_refs, head_refs)
+                    || (head_refs.start.loop || !same_scope(def)) && !mergeable(tail_refs, head_refs)
                     || !all(tail_refs, function(sym) {
                         return sym.scope.find_variable(def.name) === def;
                     })) {
diff --git a/test/compress/merge_vars.js b/test/compress/merge_vars.js
index 0494acfb..dc526c5f 100644
--- a/test/compress/merge_vars.js
+++ b/test/compress/merge_vars.js
@@ -3301,3 +3301,80 @@ issue_4761: {
     }
     expect_stdout: "undefined"
 }
+
+issue_4956_1: {
+    options = {
+        merge_vars: true,
+        toplevel: true,
+    }
+    input: {
+        var a, b;
+        function f(c) {
+            switch (c) {
+              case 0:
+                a = { p: 42 };
+
+              case 1:
+                b = a.p;
+                console.log(b);
+            }
+        }
+        f(0);
+        f(1);
+    }
+    expect: {
+        var a, b;
+        function f(c) {
+            switch (c) {
+              case 0:
+                a = { p: 42 };
+
+              case 1:
+                b = a.p;
+                console.log(b);
+            }
+        }
+        f(0);
+        f(1);
+    }
+    expect_stdout: [
+        "42",
+        "42",
+    ]
+}
+
+issue_4956_2: {
+    options = {
+        merge_vars: true,
+        toplevel: true,
+    }
+    input: {
+        var a, b;
+        function f(c) {
+            if (0 == c) {
+                console;
+                a = { p: 42 };
+            }
+            b = a.p;
+            if (1 == c)
+                console.log(b);
+        }
+        f(0);
+        f(1);
+    }
+    expect: {
+        var a, b;
+        function f(c) {
+            if (0 == c) {
+                console;
+                a = { p: 42 };
+            }
+            b = a.p;
+            if (1 == c)
+                console.log(b);
+        }
+        f(0);
+        f(1);
+    }
+    expect_stdout: "42"
+}
diff --git a/test/sandbox.js b/test/sandbox.js
index edebcabe..c0e9e09b 100644
--- a/test/sandbox.js
+++ b/test/sandbox.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ exports.run_code = semver.satisfies(process.version, "0.8") ? function(code, top
 } : semver.satisfies(process.version, "<0.12") ? run_code_vm : function(code, toplevel, timeout) {
     if ([
         /\basync[ \t]*\([\s\S]*?\)[ \t]*=>/,
-        /\b(async[ \t]+function|setImmediate|setInterval|setTimeout)\b/,
+        /\b(async[ \t]+function|Promise|setImmediate|setInterval|setTimeout)\b/,
         /\basync([ \t]+|[ \t]*#|[ \t]*\*[ \t]*)[^\s()[\]{},.&|!~=*%/+-]+(\s*\(|[ \t]*=>)/,
     ].some(function(pattern) {
         return pattern.test(code);