diff --git a/src/compiler/checker.ts b/src/compiler/checker.ts
index cde61bb407..2ad014aaab 100644
--- a/src/compiler/checker.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/checker.ts
@@ -1733,13 +1733,24 @@ namespace ts {
                     return undefined;
                 }
                 const right = name.kind === SyntaxKind.QualifiedName ? name.right : name.name;
-                const namespace = resolveEntityName(left, SymbolFlags.Namespace, ignoreErrors, /*dontResolveAlias*/ false, location);
+                let namespace = resolveEntityName(left, SymbolFlags.Namespace, /*ignoreErrors*/ true, /*dontResolveAlias*/ false, location);
+                if (!namespace && name.parent && isJSDocTypeReference(name.parent as TypeReferenceType)) {
+                    // jsdoc type references may be values
+                    namespace = resolveEntityName(left, SymbolFlags.Value, ignoreErrors, /*dontResolveAlias*/ false, location);
+                }
+                else if (!ignoreErrors) {
+                    // run again for error reporting purposes
+                    resolveEntityName(left, SymbolFlags.Namespace, /*ignoreErrors*/ false, /*dontResolveAlias*/ false, location);
+                }
                 if (!namespace || nodeIsMissing(right)) {
                     return undefined;
                 }
                 else if (namespace === unknownSymbol) {
                     return namespace;
                 }
+                if (isInJavaScriptFile(name) && isDeclarationOfFunctionOrClassExpression(namespace)) {
+                    namespace = getSymbolOfNode((namespace.valueDeclaration as VariableDeclaration).initializer);
+                }
                 symbol = getSymbol(getExportsOfSymbol(namespace), right.escapedText, meaning);
                 if (!symbol) {
                     if (!ignoreErrors) {
diff --git a/src/compiler/utilities.ts b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
index 4bc519c2b8..a08990e4c4 100644
--- a/src/compiler/utilities.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/utilities.ts
@@ -1435,7 +1435,7 @@ namespace ts {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Returns true if the node is a variable declaration whose initializer is a function expression.
+     * Returns true if the node is a variable declaration whose initializer is a function or class expression.
      * This function does not test if the node is in a JavaScript file or not.
      */
     export function isDeclarationOfFunctionOrClassExpression(s: Symbol) {