diff --git a/src/coreclr/jit/lowerxarch.cpp b/src/coreclr/jit/lowerxarch.cpp
index 40213512b03649..0efc1db90978fc 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/jit/lowerxarch.cpp
+++ b/src/coreclr/jit/lowerxarch.cpp
@@ -7771,11 +7771,11 @@ void Lowering::ContainCheckCast(GenTreeCast* node)
         else if (m_compiler->opts.Tier0OptimizationEnabled() && varTypeIsIntegral(castOp) &&
                  varTypeIsIntegral(castToType))
         {
-            // Most integral casts can be re-expressed as loads, except those that would be changing the sign.
-            if (!varTypeIsSmall(castOp) || (varTypeIsUnsigned(castOp) == node->IsZeroExtending()))
-            {
-                srcIsContainable = true;
-            }
+            // Small-typed casts can always be re-expressed as memory loads at the cast's own
+            // extension direction; the load has a single use (containment implies it), so
+            // the load's own extension mode is irrelevant. This folds patterns like
+            // "movzx r, byte ptr [mem]; movsx r, r8" into a single "movsx r, byte ptr [mem]".
+            srcIsContainable = true;
         }
 
         if (srcIsContainable)
diff --git a/src/tests/JIT/opt/Casts/SignExtLoad.cs b/src/tests/JIT/opt/Casts/SignExtLoad.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..45e0f00a949921
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/JIT/opt/Casts/SignExtLoad.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
+// The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
+
+// Regression tests for https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/69472:
+// a small-typed load fed to a sign-extending cast should emit a single
+// signed-load instruction, not a zero-extending load followed by a separate
+// sign-extension. Contained-source lowering in ContainCheckCast used to
+// refuse to fold when the load's small-type signedness didn't match the
+// cast's extension direction.
+
+using System;
+using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace CodeGenTests
+{
+    public class SignExtLoad
+    {
+        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+        static int UByteSpanIndexed(ReadOnlySpan<byte> s, int i)
+        {
+            // X64:     movsx
+            // X64-NOT: movzx
+            return (sbyte)s[i];
+        }
+
+        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+        static int CharArrayIndexed(char[] a, int i)
+        {
+            // X64:     movsx
+            // X64-NOT: movzx
+            return (short)a[i];
+        }
+
+        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+        static int ByteArrayIndexed(byte[] a, int i)
+        {
+            // X64:     movsx
+            // X64-NOT: movzx
+            return (sbyte)a[i];
+        }
+
+        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+        static int UShortArrayIndexed(ushort[] a, int i)
+        {
+            // X64:     movsx
+            // X64-NOT: movzx
+            return (short)a[i];
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public static int TestEntryPoint()
+        {
+            byte[] bytes = new byte[] { 1, 0xFF };
+            char[] chars = new char[] { 'A', '\uFFFF' };
+            ushort[] ushorts = new ushort[] { 1, 0xFFFF };
+
+            if (UByteSpanIndexed(bytes, 0) != 1) return 0;
+            if (UByteSpanIndexed(bytes, 1) != -1) return 0;
+            if (ByteArrayIndexed(bytes, 0) != 1) return 0;
+            if (ByteArrayIndexed(bytes, 1) != -1) return 0;
+            if (CharArrayIndexed(chars, 0) != 'A') return 0;
+            if (CharArrayIndexed(chars, 1) != -1) return 0;
+            if (UShortArrayIndexed(ushorts, 0) != 1) return 0;
+            if (UShortArrayIndexed(ushorts, 1) != -1) return 0;
+
+            return 100;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/tests/JIT/opt/Casts/SignExtLoad.csproj b/src/tests/JIT/opt/Casts/SignExtLoad.csproj
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..dbc3ab7f2f9596
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/JIT/opt/Casts/SignExtLoad.csproj
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <!-- Needed for CLRTestEnvironmentVariable -->
+    <RequiresProcessIsolation>true</RequiresProcessIsolation>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <DebugType>None</DebugType>
+    <Optimize>True</Optimize>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <Compile Include="$(MSBuildProjectName).cs">
+      <HasDisasmCheck>true</HasDisasmCheck>
+    </Compile>
+
+    <CLRTestEnvironmentVariable Include="DOTNET_TieredCompilation" Value="0" />
+    <CLRTestEnvironmentVariable Include="DOTNET_JITMinOpts" Value="0" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+</Project>