diff --git a/base/abstractarray.jl b/base/abstractarray.jl
index b605cdcb7f183..70d1fd4828d4e 100644
--- a/base/abstractarray.jl
+++ b/base/abstractarray.jl
@@ -1493,6 +1493,7 @@ function hvcat_fill(a::Array, xs::Tuple)
 end
 
 hvcat(rows::Tuple{Vararg{Int}}, xs::Number...) = typed_hvcat(promote_typeof(xs...), rows, xs...)
+hvcat(rows::Tuple{Vararg{Int}}, xs...) = typed_hvcat(promote_eltypeof(xs...), rows, xs...)
 
 function typed_hvcat(::Type{T}, rows::Tuple{Vararg{Int}}, xs::Number...) where T
     nr = length(rows)
@@ -1509,18 +1510,6 @@ function typed_hvcat(::Type{T}, rows::Tuple{Vararg{Int}}, xs::Number...) where T
     hvcat_fill(Array{T,2}(nr, nc), xs)
 end
 
-# fallback definition of hvcat in terms of hcat and vcat
-function hvcat(rows::Tuple{Vararg{Int}}, as...)
-    nbr = length(rows)  # number of block rows
-    rs = Array{Any,1}(nbr)
-    a = 1
-    for i = 1:nbr
-        rs[i] = hcat(as[a:a-1+rows[i]]...)
-        a += rows[i]
-    end
-    vcat(rs...)
-end
-
 function typed_hvcat(::Type{T}, rows::Tuple{Vararg{Int}}, as...) where T
     nbr = length(rows)  # number of block rows
     rs = Array{Any,1}(nbr)
diff --git a/test/arrayops.jl b/test/arrayops.jl
index 752b6c94d69a0..a78bffc27d3a4 100644
--- a/test/arrayops.jl
+++ b/test/arrayops.jl
@@ -413,6 +413,14 @@ end
         @test X32[i:(i+1), j:(j+2)] == X
     end
 end
+@testset "fallback hvcat" begin
+    #Issue #23994
+    A23994 = [1 "two"; 3im 4.0; 5 6//1]
+    @test A23994[2] isa Complex{Int}
+    @test A23994[3] isa Int
+    @test A23994[5] isa Float64
+    @test A23994[6] isa Rational{Int}
+end
 @testset "end" begin
     X = [ i+2j for i=1:5, j=1:5 ]
     @test X[end,end] == 15