diff --git a/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/descriptor.h b/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/descriptor.h
index 9907e7866e7bf..aa6ec1dbdebea 100644
--- a/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/descriptor.h
+++ b/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/descriptor.h
@@ -437,6 +437,64 @@ class Descriptor {
 };
 static_assert(sizeof(Descriptor) == sizeof(ISO::CFI_cdesc_t));
 
+// Lightweight iterator-like API to simplify specialising Descriptor indexing
+// in cases where it can improve application performance. On account of the
+// purpose of this API being performance optimisation, it is up to the user to
+// do all the necessary checks to make sure the specialised variants can be used
+// safely and that Advance() is not called more times than the number of
+// elements in the Descriptor allows for.
+// Default RANK=-1 supports aray descriptors of any rank up to maxRank.
+template <int RANK = -1> class DescriptorIterator {
+private:
+  const Descriptor &descriptor;
+  SubscriptValue subscripts[maxRank];
+  std::size_t elementOffset{0};
+
+public:
+  RT_API_ATTRS DescriptorIterator(const Descriptor &descriptor)
+      : descriptor(descriptor) {
+    // We do not need the subscripts to iterate over a rank-1 array
+    if constexpr (RANK != 1) {
+      descriptor.GetLowerBounds(subscripts);
+    }
+  };
+
+  template <typename A> RT_API_ATTRS A *Get() {
+    std::size_t offset{0};
+    // The rank-1 case doesn't require looping at all
+    if constexpr (RANK == 1) {
+      offset = elementOffset;
+      // The compiler might be able to optimise this better if we know the rank
+      // at compile time
+    } else if constexpr (RANK != -1) {
+      for (int j{0}; j < RANK; ++j) {
+        offset += descriptor.SubscriptByteOffset(j, subscripts[j]);
+      }
+      // General fallback
+    } else {
+      offset = descriptor.SubscriptsToByteOffset(subscripts);
+    }
+
+    return descriptor.OffsetElement<A>(offset);
+  }
+
+  RT_API_ATTRS void Advance() {
+    if constexpr (RANK == 1) {
+      elementOffset += descriptor.GetDimension(0).ByteStride();
+    } else if constexpr (RANK != -1) {
+      for (int j{0}; j < RANK; ++j) {
+        const Dimension &dim{descriptor.GetDimension(j)};
+        if (subscripts[j]++ < dim.UpperBound()) {
+          break;
+        }
+        subscripts[j] = dim.LowerBound();
+      }
+    } else {
+      descriptor.IncrementSubscripts(subscripts);
+    }
+  }
+};
+
 // Properly configured instances of StaticDescriptor will occupy the
 // exact amount of storage required for the descriptor, its dimensional
 // information, and possible addendum.  To build such a static descriptor,
diff --git a/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/tools.h b/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/tools.h
index 91a026bf2ac14..a1b96f41f4936 100644
--- a/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/tools.h
+++ b/flang-rt/include/flang-rt/runtime/tools.h
@@ -511,10 +511,13 @@ inline RT_API_ATTRS const char *FindCharacter(
 // Copy payload data from one allocated descriptor to another.
 // Assumes element counts and element sizes match, and that both
 // descriptors are allocated.
+template <typename P = char, int RANK = -1>
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToDiscontiguous(
     const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from);
+template <typename P = char, int RANK = -1>
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToContiguous(
     const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from);
+template <typename P = char, int RANK = -1>
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyContiguousToDiscontiguous(
     const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from);
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopy(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
diff --git a/flang-rt/lib/runtime/assign.cpp b/flang-rt/lib/runtime/assign.cpp
index 4a813cd489022..9f4dcfa7d86c1 100644
--- a/flang-rt/lib/runtime/assign.cpp
+++ b/flang-rt/lib/runtime/assign.cpp
@@ -494,7 +494,7 @@ RT_API_ATTRS void Assign(Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
       }
     } else { // elemental copies, possibly with character truncation
       for (std::size_t n{toElements}; n-- > 0;
-           to.IncrementSubscripts(toAt), from.IncrementSubscripts(fromAt)) {
+          to.IncrementSubscripts(toAt), from.IncrementSubscripts(fromAt)) {
         memmoveFct(to.Element<char>(toAt), from.Element<const char>(fromAt),
             toElementBytes);
       }
@@ -588,7 +588,8 @@ void RTDEF(CopyInAssign)(Descriptor &temp, const Descriptor &var,
   temp = var;
   temp.set_base_addr(nullptr);
   temp.raw().attribute = CFI_attribute_allocatable;
-  RTNAME(AssignTemporary)(temp, var, sourceFile, sourceLine);
+  temp.Allocate(kNoAsyncId);
+  ShallowCopy(temp, var);
 }
 
 void RTDEF(CopyOutAssign)(
@@ -597,9 +598,10 @@ void RTDEF(CopyOutAssign)(
 
   // Copyout from the temporary must not cause any finalizations
   // for LHS. The variable must be properly initialized already.
-  if (var)
-    Assign(*var, temp, terminator, NoAssignFlags);
-  temp.Destroy(/*finalize=*/false, /*destroyPointers=*/false, &terminator);
+  if (var) {
+    ShallowCopy(*var, temp);
+  }
+  temp.Deallocate();
 }
 
 void RTDEF(AssignExplicitLengthCharacter)(Descriptor &to,
diff --git a/flang-rt/lib/runtime/tools.cpp b/flang-rt/lib/runtime/tools.cpp
index 5d6e35faca70a..e13d0fe10a63a 100644
--- a/flang-rt/lib/runtime/tools.cpp
+++ b/flang-rt/lib/runtime/tools.cpp
@@ -114,58 +114,148 @@ RT_API_ATTRS void CheckIntegerKind(
   }
 }
 
+template <typename P, int RANK>
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToDiscontiguous(
     const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from) {
-  SubscriptValue toAt[maxRank], fromAt[maxRank];
-  to.GetLowerBounds(toAt);
-  from.GetLowerBounds(fromAt);
+  DescriptorIterator<RANK> toIt{to};
+  DescriptorIterator<RANK> fromIt{from};
+  // Knowing the size at compile time can enable memcpy inlining optimisations
+  constexpr std::size_t typeElementBytes{sizeof(P)};
+  // We might still need to check the actual size as a fallback
   std::size_t elementBytes{to.ElementBytes()};
   for (std::size_t n{to.Elements()}; n-- > 0;
-       to.IncrementSubscripts(toAt), from.IncrementSubscripts(fromAt)) {
-    std::memcpy(
-        to.Element<char>(toAt), from.Element<char>(fromAt), elementBytes);
+      toIt.Advance(), fromIt.Advance()) {
+    // typeElementBytes == 1 when P is a char - the non-specialised case
+    if constexpr (typeElementBytes != 1) {
+      std::memcpy(
+          toIt.template Get<P>(), fromIt.template Get<P>(), typeElementBytes);
+    } else {
+      std::memcpy(
+          toIt.template Get<P>(), fromIt.template Get<P>(), elementBytes);
+    }
   }
 }
 
+template <typename P, int RANK>
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToContiguous(
     const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from) {
   char *toAt{to.OffsetElement()};
-  SubscriptValue fromAt[maxRank];
-  from.GetLowerBounds(fromAt);
+  constexpr std::size_t typeElementBytes{sizeof(P)};
   std::size_t elementBytes{to.ElementBytes()};
+  DescriptorIterator<RANK> fromIt{from};
   for (std::size_t n{to.Elements()}; n-- > 0;
-       toAt += elementBytes, from.IncrementSubscripts(fromAt)) {
-    std::memcpy(toAt, from.Element<char>(fromAt), elementBytes);
+      toAt += elementBytes, fromIt.Advance()) {
+    if constexpr (typeElementBytes != 1) {
+      std::memcpy(toAt, fromIt.template Get<P>(), typeElementBytes);
+    } else {
+      std::memcpy(toAt, fromIt.template Get<P>(), elementBytes);
+    }
   }
 }
 
+template <typename P, int RANK>
 RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyContiguousToDiscontiguous(
     const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from) {
-  SubscriptValue toAt[maxRank];
-  to.GetLowerBounds(toAt);
   char *fromAt{from.OffsetElement()};
+  DescriptorIterator<RANK> toIt{to};
+  constexpr std::size_t typeElementBytes{sizeof(P)};
   std::size_t elementBytes{to.ElementBytes()};
   for (std::size_t n{to.Elements()}; n-- > 0;
-       to.IncrementSubscripts(toAt), fromAt += elementBytes) {
-    std::memcpy(to.Element<char>(toAt), fromAt, elementBytes);
+      toIt.Advance(), fromAt += elementBytes) {
+    if constexpr (typeElementBytes != 1) {
+      std::memcpy(toIt.template Get<P>(), fromAt, typeElementBytes);
+    } else {
+      std::memcpy(toIt.template Get<P>(), fromAt, elementBytes);
+    }
   }
 }
 
-RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopy(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
+// ShallowCopy helper for calling the correct specialised variant based on
+// scenario
+template <typename P, int RANK = -1>
+RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyInner(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
     bool toIsContiguous, bool fromIsContiguous) {
   if (toIsContiguous) {
     if (fromIsContiguous) {
       std::memcpy(to.OffsetElement(), from.OffsetElement(),
           to.Elements() * to.ElementBytes());
     } else {
-      ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToContiguous(to, from);
+      ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToContiguous<P, RANK>(to, from);
     }
   } else {
     if (fromIsContiguous) {
-      ShallowCopyContiguousToDiscontiguous(to, from);
+      ShallowCopyContiguousToDiscontiguous<P, RANK>(to, from);
+    } else {
+      ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToDiscontiguous<P, RANK>(to, from);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+// Most arrays are much closer to rank-1 than to maxRank.
+// Doing the recursion upwards instead of downwards puts the more common
+// cases earlier in the if-chain and has a tangible impact on performance.
+template <typename P, int RANK> struct ShallowCopyRankSpecialize {
+  static bool execute(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
+      bool toIsContiguous, bool fromIsContiguous) {
+    if (to.rank() == RANK && from.rank() == RANK) {
+      ShallowCopyInner<P, RANK>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+      return true;
+    }
+    return ShallowCopyRankSpecialize<P, RANK + 1>::execute(
+        to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+  }
+};
+
+template <typename P> struct ShallowCopyRankSpecialize<P, maxRank + 1> {
+  static bool execute(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
+      bool toIsContiguous, bool fromIsContiguous) {
+    return false;
+  }
+};
+
+// ShallowCopy helper for specialising the variants based on array rank
+template <typename P>
+RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopyRank(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
+    bool toIsContiguous, bool fromIsContiguous) {
+  // Try to call a specialised ShallowCopy variant from rank-1 up to maxRank
+  bool specialized{ShallowCopyRankSpecialize<P, 1>::execute(
+      to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous)};
+  if (!specialized) {
+    ShallowCopyInner<P>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+  }
+}
+
+RT_API_ATTRS void ShallowCopy(const Descriptor &to, const Descriptor &from,
+    bool toIsContiguous, bool fromIsContiguous) {
+  std::size_t elementBytes{to.ElementBytes()};
+  // Checking the type at runtime and making sure the pointer passed to memcpy
+  // has a type that matches the element type makes it possible for the compiler
+  // to optimise out the memcpy calls altogether and can substantially improve
+  // performance for some applications.
+  if (to.type().IsInteger()) {
+    if (elementBytes == sizeof(int64_t)) {
+      ShallowCopyRank<int64_t>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+    } else if (elementBytes == sizeof(int32_t)) {
+      ShallowCopyRank<int32_t>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+    } else if (elementBytes == sizeof(int16_t)) {
+      ShallowCopyRank<int16_t>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+#if defined USING_NATIVE_INT128_T
+    } else if (elementBytes == sizeof(__int128_t)) {
+      ShallowCopyRank<__int128_t>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+#endif
     } else {
-      ShallowCopyDiscontiguousToDiscontiguous(to, from);
+      ShallowCopyRank<char>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
     }
+  } else if (to.type().IsReal()) {
+    if (elementBytes == sizeof(double)) {
+      ShallowCopyRank<double>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+    } else if (elementBytes == sizeof(float)) {
+      ShallowCopyRank<float>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+    } else {
+      ShallowCopyRank<char>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
+    }
+  } else {
+    ShallowCopyRank<char>(to, from, toIsContiguous, fromIsContiguous);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/Assign.cpp b/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/Assign.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4001cc90ca0a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/Assign.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+//===-- unittests/Runtime/Assign.cpp ------------------*- C++ -*-===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "flang/Runtime/assign.h"
+#include "tools.h"
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include <vector>
+
+using namespace Fortran::runtime;
+using Fortran::common::TypeCategory;
+
+TEST(Assign, RTNAME(CopyInAssign)) {
+  // contiguous -> contiguous copy in
+  auto intArray{MakeArray<TypeCategory::Integer, 1>(
+      std::vector<int>{2, 3}, std::vector<int>{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, sizeof(int))};
+  StaticDescriptor<2> staticIntResult;
+  Descriptor &intResult{staticIntResult.descriptor()};
+
+  RTNAME(CopyInAssign(intResult, *intArray));
+  ASSERT_TRUE(intResult.IsAllocated());
+  ASSERT_TRUE(intResult.IsContiguous());
+  ASSERT_EQ(intResult.type(), intArray->type());
+  ASSERT_EQ(intResult.ElementBytes(), sizeof(int));
+  EXPECT_EQ(intResult.GetDimension(0).LowerBound(), 1);
+  EXPECT_EQ(intResult.GetDimension(0).Extent(), 2);
+  EXPECT_EQ(intResult.GetDimension(1).LowerBound(), 1);
+  EXPECT_EQ(intResult.GetDimension(1).Extent(), 3);
+  int expected[6] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6};
+  EXPECT_EQ(
+      std::memcmp(intResult.OffsetElement<int>(0), expected, 6 * sizeof(int)),
+      0);
+  intResult.Destroy();
+
+  // discontiguous -> contiguous rank-1 copy in
+  intArray = MakeArray<TypeCategory::Integer, 1>(std::vector<int>{8},
+      std::vector<int>{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}, sizeof(int));
+  StaticDescriptor<1> staticIntResultStrided;
+  Descriptor &intResultStrided{staticIntResultStrided.descriptor()};
+  // Treat the descriptor as a strided array of 4
+  intArray->GetDimension(0).SetByteStride(sizeof(int) * 2);
+  intArray->GetDimension(0).SetExtent(4);
+  RTNAME(CopyInAssign(intResultStrided, *intArray));
+
+  int expectedStrided[4] = {1, 3, 5, 7};
+  EXPECT_EQ(std::memcmp(intResultStrided.OffsetElement<int>(0), expectedStrided,
+                4 * sizeof(int)),
+      0);
+
+  intResultStrided.Destroy();
+}
diff --git a/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/CMakeLists.txt b/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/CMakeLists.txt
index 61d0aba93b14b..49f55a442863b 100644
--- a/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/flang-rt/unittests/Runtime/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ add_flangrt_unittest(RuntimeTests
   AccessTest.cpp
   Allocatable.cpp
   ArrayConstructor.cpp
+  Assign.cpp
   BufferTest.cpp
   CharacterTest.cpp
   CommandTest.cpp