diff --git a/base/bitarray.jl b/base/bitarray.jl
index 83194d470dcef..ed5d9541f122a 100644
--- a/base/bitarray.jl
+++ b/base/bitarray.jl
@@ -355,11 +355,8 @@ end
     i1, i2 = get_chunks_id(i)
     u = UInt64(1) << i2
     @inbounds begin
-        if x
-            Bc[i1] |= u
-        else
-            Bc[i1] &= ~u
-        end
+        c = Bc[i1]
+        Bc[i1] = ifelse(x, c | u, c & ~u)
     end
 end