diff --git a/pandas/core/arrays/datetimelike.py b/pandas/core/arrays/datetimelike.py
index 33b2f65340a3b..c3b4ce8a9f7d4 100644
--- a/pandas/core/arrays/datetimelike.py
+++ b/pandas/core/arrays/datetimelike.py
@@ -1938,7 +1938,7 @@ def __init__(
                 freq = values.freq
             elif freq and values.freq:
                 freq = to_offset(freq)
-                freq, _ = validate_inferred_freq(freq, values.freq, False)
+                freq = _validate_inferred_freq(freq, values.freq)
 
             if dtype is not None and dtype != values.dtype:
                 # TODO: we only have tests for this for DTA, not TDA (2022-07-01)
@@ -2025,6 +2025,39 @@ def freq(self, value) -> None:
 
         self._freq = value
 
+    @final
+    def _maybe_pin_freq(self, freq, validate_kwds: dict):
+        """
+        Constructor helper to pin the appropriate `freq` attribute.  Assumes
+        that self._freq is currently set to any freq inferred in
+        _from_sequence_not_strict.
+        """
+        if freq is None:
+            # user explicitly passed None -> override any inferred_freq
+            self._freq = None
+        elif freq == "infer":
+            # if self._freq is *not* None then we already inferred a freq
+            #  and there is nothing left to do
+            if self._freq is None:
+                # Set _freq directly to bypass duplicative _validate_frequency
+                # check.
+                self._freq = to_offset(self.inferred_freq)
+        elif freq is lib.no_default:
+            # user did not specify anything, keep inferred freq if the original
+            #  data had one, otherwise do nothing
+            pass
+        elif self._freq is None:
+            # We cannot inherit a freq from the data, so we need to validate
+            #  the user-passed freq
+            freq = to_offset(freq)
+            type(self)._validate_frequency(self, freq, **validate_kwds)
+            self._freq = freq
+        else:
+            # Otherwise we just need to check that the user-passed freq
+            #  doesn't conflict with the one we already have.
+            freq = to_offset(freq)
+            _validate_inferred_freq(freq, self._freq)
+
     @final
     @classmethod
     def _validate_frequency(cls, index, freq: BaseOffset, **kwargs):
@@ -2353,7 +2386,9 @@ def _is_dates_only(self) -> bool:
 # Shared Constructor Helpers
 
 
-def ensure_arraylike_for_datetimelike(data, copy: bool, cls_name: str):
+def ensure_arraylike_for_datetimelike(
+    data, copy: bool, cls_name: str
+) -> tuple[ArrayLike, bool]:
     if not hasattr(data, "dtype"):
         # e.g. list, tuple
         if not isinstance(data, (list, tuple)) and np.ndim(data) == 0:
@@ -2426,9 +2461,9 @@ def validate_periods(periods: int | float | None) -> int | None:
     return periods
 
 
-def validate_inferred_freq(
-    freq, inferred_freq, freq_infer
-) -> tuple[BaseOffset | None, bool]:
+def _validate_inferred_freq(
+    freq: BaseOffset | None, inferred_freq: BaseOffset | None
+) -> BaseOffset | None:
     """
     If the user passes a freq and another freq is inferred from passed data,
     require that they match.
@@ -2437,12 +2472,10 @@ def validate_inferred_freq(
     ----------
     freq : DateOffset or None
     inferred_freq : DateOffset or None
-    freq_infer : bool
 
     Returns
     -------
     freq : DateOffset or None
-    freq_infer : bool
 
     Notes
     -----
@@ -2458,12 +2491,11 @@ def validate_inferred_freq(
             )
         if freq is None:
             freq = inferred_freq
-        freq_infer = False
 
-    return freq, freq_infer
+    return freq
 
 
-def maybe_infer_freq(freq):
+def maybe_infer_freq(freq) -> tuple[BaseOffset | None, bool]:
     """
     Comparing a DateOffset to the string "infer" raises, so we need to
     be careful about comparisons.  Make a dummy variable `freq_infer` to
diff --git a/pandas/core/arrays/datetimes.py b/pandas/core/arrays/datetimes.py
index 6efff2483e1ae..b100a6a80f8ed 100644
--- a/pandas/core/arrays/datetimes.py
+++ b/pandas/core/arrays/datetimes.py
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
     from collections.abc import Iterator
 
     from pandas._typing import (
+        ArrayLike,
         DateTimeErrorChoices,
         DtypeObj,
         IntervalClosedType,
@@ -327,13 +328,10 @@ def _from_sequence_not_strict(
         dayfirst: bool = False,
         yearfirst: bool = False,
         ambiguous: TimeAmbiguous = "raise",
-    ):
+    ) -> Self:
         """
         A non-strict version of _from_sequence, called from DatetimeIndex.__new__.
         """
-        explicit_none = freq is None
-        freq = freq if freq is not lib.no_default else None
-        freq, freq_infer = dtl.maybe_infer_freq(freq)
 
         # if the user either explicitly passes tz=None or a tz-naive dtype, we
         #  disallows inferring a tz.
@@ -349,13 +347,16 @@ def _from_sequence_not_strict(
 
         unit = None
         if dtype is not None:
-            if isinstance(dtype, np.dtype):
-                unit = np.datetime_data(dtype)[0]
-            else:
-                # DatetimeTZDtype
-                unit = dtype.unit
+            unit = dtl.dtype_to_unit(dtype)
+
+        data, copy = dtl.ensure_arraylike_for_datetimelike(
+            data, copy, cls_name="DatetimeArray"
+        )
+        inferred_freq = None
+        if isinstance(data, DatetimeArray):
+            inferred_freq = data.freq
 
-        subarr, tz, inferred_freq = _sequence_to_dt64(
+        subarr, tz = _sequence_to_dt64(
             data,
             copy=copy,
             tz=tz,
@@ -372,26 +373,15 @@ def _from_sequence_not_strict(
                 "Use obj.tz_localize(None) instead."
             )
 
-        freq, freq_infer = dtl.validate_inferred_freq(freq, inferred_freq, freq_infer)
-        if explicit_none:
-            freq = None
-
         data_unit = np.datetime_data(subarr.dtype)[0]
         data_dtype = tz_to_dtype(tz, data_unit)
-        result = cls._simple_new(subarr, freq=freq, dtype=data_dtype)
+        result = cls._simple_new(subarr, freq=inferred_freq, dtype=data_dtype)
         if unit is not None and unit != result.unit:
             # If unit was specified in user-passed dtype, cast to it here
             result = result.as_unit(unit)
 
-        if inferred_freq is None and freq is not None:
-            # this condition precludes `freq_infer`
-            cls._validate_frequency(result, freq, ambiguous=ambiguous)
-
-        elif freq_infer:
-            # Set _freq directly to bypass duplicative _validate_frequency
-            # check.
-            result._freq = to_offset(result.inferred_freq)
-
+        validate_kwds = {"ambiguous": ambiguous}
+        result._maybe_pin_freq(freq, validate_kwds)
         return result
 
     # error: Signature of "_generate_range" incompatible with supertype
@@ -2180,7 +2170,7 @@ def std(
 
 
 def _sequence_to_dt64(
-    data,
+    data: ArrayLike,
     *,
     copy: bool = False,
     tz: tzinfo | None = None,
@@ -2192,7 +2182,8 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
     """
     Parameters
     ----------
-    data : list-like
+    data : np.ndarray or ExtensionArray
+        dtl.ensure_arraylike_for_datetimelike has already been called.
     copy : bool, default False
     tz : tzinfo or None, default None
     dayfirst : bool, default False
@@ -2209,21 +2200,11 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
         Where `unit` is "ns" unless specified otherwise by `out_unit`.
     tz : tzinfo or None
         Either the user-provided tzinfo or one inferred from the data.
-    inferred_freq : Tick or None
-        The inferred frequency of the sequence.
 
     Raises
     ------
     TypeError : PeriodDType data is passed
     """
-    inferred_freq = None
-
-    data, copy = dtl.ensure_arraylike_for_datetimelike(
-        data, copy, cls_name="DatetimeArray"
-    )
-
-    if isinstance(data, DatetimeArray):
-        inferred_freq = data.freq
 
     # By this point we are assured to have either a numpy array or Index
     data, copy = maybe_convert_dtype(data, copy, tz=tz)
@@ -2236,6 +2217,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
     if data_dtype == object or is_string_dtype(data_dtype):
         # TODO: We do not have tests specific to string-dtypes,
         #  also complex or categorical or other extension
+        data = cast(np.ndarray, data)
         copy = False
         if lib.infer_dtype(data, skipna=False) == "integer":
             data = data.astype(np.int64)
@@ -2248,7 +2230,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
                 yearfirst=yearfirst,
                 creso=abbrev_to_npy_unit(out_unit),
             )
-            return result, tz, None
+            return result, tz
         else:
             converted, inferred_tz = objects_to_datetime64(
                 data,
@@ -2273,7 +2255,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
                 result, _ = _construct_from_dt64_naive(
                     converted, tz=tz, copy=copy, ambiguous=ambiguous
                 )
-            return result, tz, None
+            return result, tz
 
         data_dtype = data.dtype
 
@@ -2281,6 +2263,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
     # so we need to handle these types.
     if isinstance(data_dtype, DatetimeTZDtype):
         # DatetimeArray -> ndarray
+        data = cast(DatetimeArray, data)
         tz = _maybe_infer_tz(tz, data.tz)
         result = data._ndarray
 
@@ -2289,6 +2272,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
         if isinstance(data, DatetimeArray):
             data = data._ndarray
 
+        data = cast(np.ndarray, data)
         result, copy = _construct_from_dt64_naive(
             data, tz=tz, copy=copy, ambiguous=ambiguous
         )
@@ -2299,6 +2283,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
         if data.dtype != INT64_DTYPE:
             data = data.astype(np.int64, copy=False)
             copy = False
+        data = cast(np.ndarray, data)
         result = data.view(out_dtype)
 
     if copy:
@@ -2308,7 +2293,7 @@ def _sequence_to_dt64(
     assert result.dtype.kind == "M"
     assert result.dtype != "M8"
     assert is_supported_unit(get_unit_from_dtype(result.dtype))
-    return result, tz, inferred_freq
+    return result, tz
 
 
 def _construct_from_dt64_naive(
diff --git a/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py b/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py
index b64ab1154ef96..226e2568fdbf8 100644
--- a/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py
+++ b/pandas/core/arrays/timedeltas.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
     is_supported_unit,
     npy_unit_to_abbrev,
     periods_per_second,
-    to_offset,
 )
 from pandas._libs.tslibs.conversion import precision_from_unit
 from pandas._libs.tslibs.dtypes import abbrev_to_npy_unit
@@ -236,9 +235,7 @@ def _from_sequence(cls, data, *, dtype=None, copy: bool = False) -> Self:
         if dtype:
             dtype = _validate_td64_dtype(dtype)
 
-        data, inferred_freq = sequence_to_td64ns(data, copy=copy, unit=None)
-        freq, _ = dtl.validate_inferred_freq(None, inferred_freq, False)
-        freq = cast("Tick | None", freq)
+        data, freq = sequence_to_td64ns(data, copy=copy, unit=None)
 
         if dtype is not None:
             data = astype_overflowsafe(data, dtype=dtype, copy=False)
@@ -256,38 +253,22 @@ def _from_sequence_not_strict(
         unit=None,
     ) -> Self:
         """
-        A non-strict version of _from_sequence, called from TimedeltaIndex.__new__.
+        _from_sequence_not_strict but without responsibility for finding the
+        result's `freq`.
         """
         if dtype:
             dtype = _validate_td64_dtype(dtype)
 
         assert unit not in ["Y", "y", "M"]  # caller is responsible for checking
 
-        explicit_none = freq is None
-        freq = freq if freq is not lib.no_default else None
-
-        freq, freq_infer = dtl.maybe_infer_freq(freq)
-
         data, inferred_freq = sequence_to_td64ns(data, copy=copy, unit=unit)
-        freq, freq_infer = dtl.validate_inferred_freq(freq, inferred_freq, freq_infer)
-        freq = cast("Tick | None", freq)
-        if explicit_none:
-            freq = None
 
         if dtype is not None:
             data = astype_overflowsafe(data, dtype=dtype, copy=False)
 
-        result = cls._simple_new(data, dtype=data.dtype, freq=freq)
-
-        if inferred_freq is None and freq is not None:
-            # this condition precludes `freq_infer`
-            cls._validate_frequency(result, freq)
-
-        elif freq_infer:
-            # Set _freq directly to bypass duplicative _validate_frequency
-            # check.
-            result._freq = to_offset(result.inferred_freq)
+        result = cls._simple_new(data, dtype=data.dtype, freq=inferred_freq)
 
+        result._maybe_pin_freq(freq, {})
         return result
 
     # Signature of "_generate_range" incompatible with supertype