diff --git a/source/blender/bmesh/intern/bmesh_mesh_normals.cc b/source/blender/bmesh/intern/bmesh_mesh_normals.cc
index 87b041a857f..f3d142179eb 100644
--- a/source/blender/bmesh/intern/bmesh_mesh_normals.cc
+++ b/source/blender/bmesh/intern/bmesh_mesh_normals.cc
@@ -1877,14 +1877,73 @@ void BM_lnorspace_rebuild(BMesh *bm, bool preserve_clnor)
 #endif
 }
 
+/**
+ * Make sure the corner fan (tangent space) style custom normals exist on the BMesh. If free vector
+ * custom normals exist, they'll be converted. This is often necessary for BMesh editing tools that
+ * don't (yet) support free normals.
+ */
+static void bm_lnorspace_ensure_from_free_normals(BMesh *bm)
+{
+  /* Zero values tell the normals calculation code to use the automatic normals (rather than any
+   * custom normal vector). */
+  Array<float3> lnors(bm->totloop, float3(0));
+  const int vert_free_offset = CustomData_get_offset_named(
+      &bm->vdata, CD_PROP_FLOAT3, "custom_normal");
+  const int edge_free_offset = CustomData_get_offset_named(
+      &bm->edata, CD_PROP_FLOAT3, "custom_normal");
+  const int face_free_offset = CustomData_get_offset_named(
+      &bm->pdata, CD_PROP_FLOAT3, "custom_normal");
+  const int loop_free_offset = CustomData_get_offset_named(
+      &bm->ldata, CD_PROP_FLOAT3, "custom_normal");
+  if (vert_free_offset != -1) {
+    int loop_index = 0;
+    BMFace *f;
+    BMLoop *l;
+    BMIter fiter, liter;
+    BM_ITER_MESH (f, &fiter, bm, BM_FACES_OF_MESH) {
+      BM_ITER_ELEM (l, &liter, f, BM_LOOPS_OF_FACE) {
+        lnors[loop_index++] = float3(BM_ELEM_CD_GET_FLOAT_P(l->v, vert_free_offset));
+      }
+    }
+    BM_data_layer_free_named(bm, &bm->vdata, "custom_normal");
+  }
+  else if (edge_free_offset != -1) {
+    BM_data_layer_free_named(bm, &bm->edata, "custom_normal");
+  }
+  else if (face_free_offset != -1) {
+    int loop_index = 0;
+    BMFace *f;
+    BMLoop *l;
+    BMIter fiter, liter;
+    BM_ITER_MESH (f, &fiter, bm, BM_FACES_OF_MESH) {
+      BM_ITER_ELEM (l, &liter, f, BM_LOOPS_OF_FACE) {
+        lnors[loop_index++] = float3(BM_ELEM_CD_GET_FLOAT_P(f, face_free_offset));
+      }
+    }
+    BM_data_layer_free_named(bm, &bm->pdata, "custom_normal");
+  }
+  else if (loop_free_offset != -1) {
+    int loop_index = 0;
+    BMFace *f;
+    BMLoop *l;
+    BMIter fiter, liter;
+    BM_ITER_MESH (f, &fiter, bm, BM_FACES_OF_MESH) {
+      BM_ITER_ELEM (l, &liter, f, BM_LOOPS_OF_FACE) {
+        lnors[loop_index++] = float3(BM_ELEM_CD_GET_FLOAT_P(l, loop_free_offset));
+      }
+    }
+    BM_data_layer_free_named(bm, &bm->ldata, "custom_normal");
+  }
+  BM_lnorspacearr_store(bm, lnors);
+}
+
 void BM_lnorspace_update(BMesh *bm)
 {
   if (bm->lnor_spacearr == nullptr) {
     bm->lnor_spacearr = MEM_callocN<MLoopNorSpaceArray>(__func__);
   }
   if (bm->lnor_spacearr->lspacearr == nullptr) {
-    Array<float3> lnors(bm->totloop, float3(0));
-    BM_lnorspacearr_store(bm, lnors);
+    bm_lnorspace_ensure_from_free_normals(bm);
   }
   else if (bm->spacearr_dirty & (BM_SPACEARR_DIRTY | BM_SPACEARR_DIRTY_ALL)) {
     BM_lnorspace_rebuild(bm, false);
diff --git a/source/blender/bmesh/tools/bmesh_bevel.cc b/source/blender/bmesh/tools/bmesh_bevel.cc
index 9326d749834..ee45d3fce46 100644
--- a/source/blender/bmesh/tools/bmesh_bevel.cc
+++ b/source/blender/bmesh/tools/bmesh_bevel.cc
@@ -2675,6 +2675,12 @@ static void bevel_harden_normals(BevelParams *bp, BMesh *bm)
     cd_clnors_offset = CustomData_get_offset_named(&bm->ldata, CD_PROP_INT16_2D, "custom_normal");
   }
 
+  /* If the custom normals attribute still hasn't been added with the correct type, at least don't
+   * crash. */
+  if (cd_clnors_offset == -1) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   BMIter fiter;
   BMFace *f;
   BM_ITER_MESH (f, &fiter, bm, BM_FACES_OF_MESH) {