diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir.h b/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
index e732efaaa7a..9666d232579 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
@@ -141,6 +141,10 @@ typedef enum {
    nir_var_read_only_modes = nir_var_shader_in | nir_var_uniform |
                              nir_var_system_value | nir_var_mem_constant |
                              nir_var_mem_ubo,
+   /** Modes where vector derefs can be indexed as arrays */
+   nir_var_vec_indexable_modes = nir_var_mem_ubo | nir_var_mem_ssbo |
+                                 nir_var_mem_shared | nir_var_mem_global |
+                                 nir_var_mem_push_const,
    nir_num_variable_modes  = 14,
    nir_var_all             = (1 << nir_num_variable_modes) - 1,
 } nir_variable_mode;
diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir_validate.c b/src/compiler/nir/nir_validate.c
index fe50e291c70..e8bf1b6c2ce 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir_validate.c
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir_validate.c
@@ -471,9 +471,7 @@ validate_deref_instr(nir_deref_instr *instr, validate_state *state)
 
       case nir_deref_type_array:
       case nir_deref_type_array_wildcard:
-         if (instr->modes & (nir_var_mem_ubo | nir_var_mem_ssbo |
-                             nir_var_mem_shared | nir_var_mem_global |
-                             nir_var_mem_push_const)) {
+         if (instr->modes & nir_var_vec_indexable_modes) {
             /* Shared variables and UBO/SSBOs have a bit more relaxed rules
              * because we need to be able to handle array derefs on vectors.
              * Fortunately, nir_lower_io handles these just fine.