diff --git a/mypy/checkexpr.py b/mypy/checkexpr.py
index 172d44555b946..fc11b5363358e 100644
--- a/mypy/checkexpr.py
+++ b/mypy/checkexpr.py
@@ -5348,8 +5348,20 @@ def visit_tuple_expr(self, e: TupleExpr) -> Type:
         if type_context_items is not None:
             unpack_in_context = find_unpack_in_list(type_context_items) is not None
         seen_unpack_in_items = False
+        # A variadic tuple context justifies inferring a precise tuple type even when
+        # tuple_context_matches() rejected the context because the structure doesn't
+        # line up exactly (e.g. (*a, "last") against tuple[str, *tuple[str, ...]]).
+        # Without this, such an expression collapses to tuple[str, ...], which is not
+        # assignable back to the variadic context. Note this deliberately does not feed
+        # unpack_in_context, whose index bookkeeping below relies on a full match.
+        variadic_context = (
+            isinstance(type_context, TupleType)
+            and find_unpack_in_list(type_context.items) is not None
+        )
         allow_precise_tuples = (
-            unpack_in_context or PRECISE_TUPLE_TYPES in self.chk.options.enable_incomplete_feature
+            unpack_in_context
+            or variadic_context
+            or PRECISE_TUPLE_TYPES in self.chk.options.enable_incomplete_feature
         )
 
         # Infer item types.  Give up if there's a star expression
diff --git a/test-data/unit/check-typevar-tuple.test b/test-data/unit/check-typevar-tuple.test
index 7db0fa6f4388c..79ed5c4b41752 100644
--- a/test-data/unit/check-typevar-tuple.test
+++ b/test-data/unit/check-typevar-tuple.test
@@ -1738,6 +1738,27 @@ vt = 1, *test(), 2  # OK, type context is used
 vt2 = 1, *test(), 2  # E: Need type annotation for "vt2"
 [builtins fixtures/tuple.pyi]
 
+[case testVariadicTupleContextStarPositionMismatch]
+from typing import Tuple
+from typing_extensions import Unpack
+
+a: Tuple[str, ...]
+b: Tuple[str, Unpack[Tuple[str, ...]]]
+
+# The star lines up with the context unpack.
+b = ("first", *a)
+# The star does not line up, but the context is still variadic, so the
+# precise tuple type is inferred rather than collapsing to tuple[str, ...].
+b = (*a, "last")
+
+# A variadic context must not paper over genuinely incompatible item types.
+c: Tuple[int, Unpack[Tuple[int, ...]]]
+c = (*a, "last")  # E: Incompatible types in assignment (expression has type "tuple[Unpack[tuple[str, ...]], str]", variable has type "tuple[int, Unpack[tuple[int, ...]]]")
+# A fixed-length context still requires enough items.
+d: Tuple[str, str, Unpack[Tuple[str, ...]]]
+d = ("only",)  # E: Incompatible types in assignment (expression has type "tuple[str]", variable has type "tuple[str, str, Unpack[tuple[str, ...]]]")
+[builtins fixtures/tuple.pyi]
+
 [case testVariadicTupleConcatenation]
 # flags: --enable-incomplete-feature=PreciseTupleTypes
 from typing import Tuple