diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/HeuristicResolver.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/HeuristicResolver.java
index f404bcced00..ae42c4ae098 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/HeuristicResolver.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/semantics/HeuristicResolver.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ public class HeuristicResolver {
 		if (type instanceof ICPPUnknownType) {
 			type = resolveUnknownType((ICPPUnknownType) type, point, SemanticUtil.TDEF | SemanticUtil.REF);
 		}
+		type = SemanticUtil.getNestedType(type, SemanticUtil.PTR);
 		if (type instanceof ICompositeType) {
 			return ((ICompositeType) type).getCompositeScope();
 		}
@@ -171,30 +172,31 @@ public class HeuristicResolver {
 			ownerType = ((IPointerType) ownerType).getType();
 			isPointerDeref = false;
 		}
-		if (ownerType instanceof ICPPUnknownType) {
+		
+		IType lookupType = ownerType;
+		ICPPClassSpecialization specializationContext = null;
+		if (lookupType instanceof ICPPUnknownType) {
 			// Here we have a loop similar to the one in resolveUnknownType(), but we stop when 
 			// we get a result that's an ICPPClassSpecialization or an ICPPDeferredClassInstance, 
 			// so we can use it to specialize the lookup results as appropriate.
-			IType lookupType;
-			ICPPClassSpecialization specializationContext = null;
 			while (true) {
-				if (ownerType instanceof ICPPClassSpecialization) {
-					specializationContext = (ICPPClassSpecialization) ownerType;
+				if (lookupType instanceof ICPPClassSpecialization) {
+					specializationContext = (ICPPClassSpecialization) lookupType;
 					lookupType = specializationContext.getSpecializedBinding();
 					break;
-				} else if (ownerType instanceof ICPPDeferredClassInstance) {
+				} else if (lookupType instanceof ICPPDeferredClassInstance) {
 					specializationContext = new CPPDependentClassInstance(
-							(ICPPDeferredClassInstance) ownerType);
+							(ICPPDeferredClassInstance) lookupType);
 					lookupType = specializationContext.getSpecializedBinding();
 					break;
 				}
-				IType resolvedType = resolveUnknownTypeOnce((ICPPUnknownType) ownerType, point);
+				IType resolvedType = resolveUnknownTypeOnce((ICPPUnknownType) lookupType, point);
 				resolvedType = SemanticUtil.getNestedType(resolvedType, SemanticUtil.TDEF | SemanticUtil.REF);
-				if (resolvedType == ownerType || !(resolvedType instanceof ICPPUnknownType)) {
+				if (resolvedType == lookupType || !(resolvedType instanceof ICPPUnknownType)) {
 					lookupType = resolvedType;
 					break;
 				} else {
-					ownerType = resolvedType;
+					lookupType = resolvedType;
 					continue;
 				}
 			}
@@ -208,27 +210,27 @@ public class HeuristicResolver {
 					lookupType = null;
 				}
 			}
+		}
 			
-			IScope lookupScope = null;
-			if (lookupType instanceof ICPPClassType) {
-				lookupScope = ((ICPPClassType) lookupType).getCompositeScope();
-			} else if (lookupType instanceof ICPPEnumeration) {
-				lookupScope = ((ICPPEnumeration) lookupType).asScope();
-			}
-			if (lookupScope != null) {
-				LookupData lookup = new LookupData(name, templateArgs, point);
-				lookup.fHeuristicBaseLookup = true;
-				try {
-					CPPSemantics.lookup(lookup, lookupScope);
-					IBinding[] foundBindings = lookup.getFoundBindings();
-					if (foundBindings.length > 0) {
-						if (specializationContext != null) {
-							foundBindings = specializeBindings(foundBindings, specializationContext, point);
-						}
-						return foundBindings;
+		IScope lookupScope = null;
+		if (lookupType instanceof ICPPClassType) {
+			lookupScope = ((ICPPClassType) lookupType).getCompositeScope();
+		} else if (lookupType instanceof ICPPEnumeration) {
+			lookupScope = ((ICPPEnumeration) lookupType).asScope();
+		}
+		if (lookupScope != null) {
+			LookupData lookup = new LookupData(name, templateArgs, point);
+			lookup.fHeuristicBaseLookup = true;
+			try {
+				CPPSemantics.lookup(lookup, lookupScope);
+				IBinding[] foundBindings = lookup.getFoundBindings();
+				if (foundBindings.length > 0) {
+					if (specializationContext != null) {
+						foundBindings = specializeBindings(foundBindings, specializationContext, point);
 					}
-				} catch (DOMException e) {
+					return foundBindings;
 				}
+			} catch (DOMException e) {
 			}
 		}
 		return IBinding.EMPTY_BINDING_ARRAY;
@@ -265,7 +267,7 @@ public class HeuristicResolver {
 	 * 
 	 * @param point the point of instantiation for lookups
 	 */
-	private static IType resolveUnknownType(ICPPUnknownType type, IASTNode point) {
+	public static IType resolveUnknownType(ICPPUnknownType type, IASTNode point) {
 		return resolveUnknownType(type, point, SemanticUtil.TDEF);
 	}
 	
@@ -327,6 +329,11 @@ public class HeuristicResolver {
 					functionType = resolveUnknownType((ICPPUnknownType) functionType, point);
 				}
 				return ExpressionTypes.typeFromFunctionCall(functionType);
+			} else if (evaluation instanceof EvalMemberAccess) {
+				IBinding member = ((EvalMemberAccess) evaluation).getMember();
+				// Presumably the type will be unknown. That's fine, it will be
+				// resolved during subsequent resolution rounds.
+				return typeForBinding(member);
 			}
 			// TODO(nathanridge): Handle more cases.
 		} else if (type instanceof ICPPUnknownMemberClass) {
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/ui/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/text/contentassist2/CompletionTests.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/ui/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/text/contentassist2/CompletionTests.java
index 4ae506111b4..1c966cf24db 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/ui/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/text/contentassist2/CompletionTests.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/ui/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/text/contentassist2/CompletionTests.java
@@ -1820,4 +1820,21 @@ public class CompletionTests extends AbstractContentAssistTest {
 		};
 		assertCompletionResults(fCursorOffset, expected, ID);
 	}
+	
+	//	template <int k>
+	//	struct D {
+	//		struct C {
+	//			C* c;
+	//		};
+	//		C c;
+	//		void f() {
+	//			c.c->c->c./*cursor*/
+	//		}
+	//	};
+	public void testDependentMemberChain_bug478121() throws Exception {
+		setReplaceDotWithArrow(true);
+		final String[] expected = { "C", "c" };
+		assertCompletionResults(fCursorOffset, expected, ID);
+		assertDotReplacedWithArrow();
+	}
 }
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/contentassist/CContentAssistProcessor.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/contentassist/CContentAssistProcessor.java
index 24e60fe2238..662662f050e 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/contentassist/CContentAssistProcessor.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/contentassist/CContentAssistProcessor.java
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ import org.eclipse.cdt.ui.text.ICCompletionProposal;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.ui.text.contentassist.ContentAssistInvocationContext;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.ui.text.contentassist.IProposalFilter;
 
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.cpp.ICPPUnknownType;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.cpp.semantics.HeuristicResolver;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.cpp.semantics.SemanticUtil;
 
 import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.ui.preferences.ProposalFilterPreferencesUtil;
@@ -273,6 +275,10 @@ public class CContentAssistProcessor extends ContentAssistProcessor {
 					IASTFieldReference ref = (IASTFieldReference) names[0].getParent();
 					IASTExpression ownerExpr = ref.getFieldOwner();
 					IType ownerExprType = SemanticUtil.getNestedType(ownerExpr.getExpressionType(), SemanticUtil.TDEF);
+					if (ownerExprType instanceof ICPPUnknownType) {
+						ownerExprType = HeuristicResolver.resolveUnknownType((ICPPUnknownType) ownerExprType, 
+								names[0]);
+					}
 					if (ownerExprType instanceof IPointerType) {
 						context = replaceDotWithArrow(viewer, offset, isCompletion, context, activationChar);
 					}