diff --git a/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/operations.ts b/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/operations.ts
index d4ed00b39d5c..83e85af395e0 100644
--- a/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/operations.ts
+++ b/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/operations.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import {
     isOptionalType,
     isTupleClass,
     isUnboundedTupleClass,
-    isUnionableType,
+    isUnionable,
     lookUpClassMember,
     makeInferenceContext,
     mapSubtypes,
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ export function getTypeOfBinaryOperation(
             adjustedLeftType = convertToInstantiable(evaluator.getNoneType());
         }
 
-        if (isUnionableType([adjustedLeftType, adjustedRightType])) {
+        if (isUnionable(adjustedLeftType, adjustedRightType)) {
             if (isInstantiableClass(adjustedLeftType)) {
                 adjustedLeftType = specializeWithDefaultTypeArgs(adjustedLeftType);
             }
diff --git a/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/typeUtils.ts b/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/typeUtils.ts
index 0d50ad5d2e7b..f84c2dc62fc6 100644
--- a/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/typeUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/pyright-internal/src/analyzer/typeUtils.ts
@@ -846,26 +846,21 @@ export function preserveUnknown(type1: Type, type2: Type): AnyType | UnknownType
     }
 }
 
-// Determines whether the specified type is a type that can be
-// combined with other types for a union.
-export function isUnionableType(subtypes: Type[]): boolean {
-    // If all of the subtypes are TypeForm types, we know that they
-    // are unionable.
-    if (subtypes.every((t) => t.props?.typeForm !== undefined)) {
-        return true;
+// Determines whether the two types will produce a union using the "|" operator.
+export function isUnionable(leftType: Type, rightType: Type): boolean {
+    // If the type of LHS is Any (but is not actually the Any symbol), we
+    // can't determine whether "|" will produce a union.
+    if (isAnyOrUnknown(leftType) && !leftType.props?.specialForm) {
+        return false;
     }
 
-    let typeFlags = TypeFlags.Instance | TypeFlags.Instantiable;
-
-    for (const subtype of subtypes) {
-        typeFlags &= subtype.flags;
+    // If the subtypes are TypeForm types, we know that they are unionable.
+    if (leftType.props?.typeForm && rightType.props?.typeForm) {
+        return true;
     }
 
-    // All subtypes need to be instantiable. Some types (like Any
-    // and None) are both instances and instantiable. It's OK to
-    // include some of these, but at least one subtype needs to
-    // be definitively instantiable (not an instance).
-    return (typeFlags & TypeFlags.Instantiable) !== 0 && (typeFlags & TypeFlags.Instance) === 0;
+    // Are both types instantiable?
+    return (leftType.flags & rightType.flags & TypeFlags.Instantiable) !== 0;
 }
 
 export function derivesFromAnyOrUnknown(type: Type): boolean {
diff --git a/packages/pyright-internal/src/tests/samples/never1.py b/packages/pyright-internal/src/tests/samples/never1.py
index 76d7b387afd4..f7db547709b9 100644
--- a/packages/pyright-internal/src/tests/samples/never1.py
+++ b/packages/pyright-internal/src/tests/samples/never1.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This sample tests the handling of the "Never" type,
 # ensuring that it's treated as the same as NoReturn.
 
-from typing import NoReturn, TypeVar, Generic
+from typing import Any, NoReturn, TypeVar, Generic
 from typing_extensions import Never  # pyright: ignore[reportMissingModuleSource]
 
 T = TypeVar("T")
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ def func4():
     assert_never1()
 
 
+def func5(x: Any | Never, y: Never | Any):
+    reveal_type(x, expected_text="Any")
+    reveal_type(y, expected_text="Any")
+
+
 reveal_type(assert_never1, expected_text="(val: Never) -> NoReturn")
 
 # This should generate an error.