diff --git a/mypy/checker.py b/mypy/checker.py
index 64852cb724f4..8172546f240d 100644
--- a/mypy/checker.py
+++ b/mypy/checker.py
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ def __init__(self) -> None:
     false_only,
     fixup_partial_type,
     function_type,
+    get_tuple_item_types,
     is_literal_type_like,
     is_singleton_equality_type,
     is_singleton_identity_type,
@@ -9037,19 +9038,7 @@ def builtin_item_type(tp: Type) -> Type | None:
             if not isinstance(get_proper_type(tp.args[0]), AnyType):
                 return tp.args[0]
     elif isinstance(tp, TupleType):
-        normalized_items = []
-        for it in tp.items:
-            # This use case is probably rare, but not handling unpacks here can cause crashes.
-            if isinstance(it, UnpackType):
-                unpacked = get_proper_type(it.type)
-                if isinstance(unpacked, TypeVarTupleType):
-                    unpacked = get_proper_type(unpacked.upper_bound)
-                assert (
-                    isinstance(unpacked, Instance) and unpacked.type.fullname == "builtins.tuple"
-                )
-                normalized_items.append(unpacked.args[0])
-            else:
-                normalized_items.append(it)
+        normalized_items = get_tuple_item_types(tp)
         if all(not isinstance(it, AnyType) for it in get_proper_types(normalized_items)):
             return make_simplified_union(normalized_items)  # this type is not externally visible
     elif isinstance(tp, TypedDictType):
diff --git a/mypy/checkexpr.py b/mypy/checkexpr.py
index 769e37ac97ee..f7ff23f0e648 100644
--- a/mypy/checkexpr.py
+++ b/mypy/checkexpr.py
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@
     fixup_partial_type,
     freeze_all_type_vars,
     get_all_type_vars,
+    get_tuple_item_types,
     get_type_vars,
     is_literal_type_like,
     make_simplified_union,
@@ -4823,30 +4824,11 @@ def try_getting_int_literals(self, index: Expression) -> list[int] | None:
     def nonliteral_tuple_index_helper(self, left_type: TupleType, index: Expression) -> Type:
         self.check_method_call_by_name("__getitem__", left_type, [index], [ARG_POS], context=index)
         # We could return the return type from above, but unions are often better than the join
-        union = self.union_tuple_fallback_item(left_type)
+        union = make_simplified_union(get_tuple_item_types(left_type))
         if isinstance(index, SliceExpr):
             return self.chk.named_generic_type("builtins.tuple", [union])
         return union
 
-    def union_tuple_fallback_item(self, left_type: TupleType) -> Type:
-        # TODO: this duplicates logic in typeops.tuple_fallback().
-        items = []
-        for item in left_type.items:
-            if isinstance(item, UnpackType):
-                unpacked_type = get_proper_type(item.type)
-                if isinstance(unpacked_type, TypeVarTupleType):
-                    unpacked_type = get_proper_type(unpacked_type.upper_bound)
-                if (
-                    isinstance(unpacked_type, Instance)
-                    and unpacked_type.type.fullname == "builtins.tuple"
-                ):
-                    items.append(unpacked_type.args[0])
-                else:
-                    raise NotImplementedError
-            else:
-                items.append(item)
-        return make_simplified_union(items)
-
     def visit_typeddict_index_expr(
         self, td_type: TypedDictType, index: Expression, setitem: bool = False
     ) -> tuple[Type, set[str]]:
diff --git a/mypy/typeops.py b/mypy/typeops.py
index 3035a15e2119..4c19748b2c18 100644
--- a/mypy/typeops.py
+++ b/mypy/typeops.py
@@ -109,6 +109,17 @@ def tuple_fallback(typ: TupleType) -> Instance:
     info = typ.partial_fallback.type
     if info.fullname != "builtins.tuple":
         return typ.partial_fallback
+    return Instance(
+        info,
+        # Note: flattening recursive unions is dangerous, since it can fool recursive
+        # types optimization in subtypes.py and go into infinite recursion.
+        [make_simplified_union(get_tuple_item_types(typ), handle_recursive=False)],
+        extra_attrs=typ.partial_fallback.extra_attrs,
+    )
+
+
+def get_tuple_item_types(typ: TupleType) -> list[Type]:
+    """Return tuple item types, replacing unpacks with their possible item types."""
     items = []
     for item in typ.items:
         if isinstance(item, UnpackType):
@@ -124,13 +135,7 @@ def tuple_fallback(typ: TupleType) -> Instance:
                 raise NotImplementedError
         else:
             items.append(item)
-    return Instance(
-        info,
-        # Note: flattening recursive unions is dangerous, since it can fool recursive
-        # types optimization in subtypes.py and go into infinite recursion.
-        [make_simplified_union(items, handle_recursive=False)],
-        extra_attrs=typ.partial_fallback.extra_attrs,
-    )
+    return items
 
 
 def get_self_type(func: CallableType, def_info: TypeInfo) -> Type | None: