diff --git a/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl b/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl
index 4cd9509c1367e..203d4d3d42085 100644
--- a/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl
+++ b/base/sparse/sparsevector.jl
@@ -703,7 +703,9 @@ complex(x::AbstractSparseVector) =
 
 ### Concatenation
 
-function hcat{Tv,Ti}(X::AbstractSparseVector{Tv,Ti}...)
+promote_indtype{Tv,Ti}(X::SparseVector{Tv,Ti}, Xs::SparseVector...) = promote_type(Ti, promote_indtype(Xs...))
+
+function typed_hcat{Tv,Ti<:Integer}(::Type{SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}}, X::AbstractSparseVector...)
     # check sizes
     n = length(X)
     m = length(X[1])
@@ -731,8 +733,15 @@ function hcat{Tv,Ti}(X::AbstractSparseVector{Tv,Ti}...)
     colptr[n+1] = roff
     SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}(m, n, colptr, nzrow, nzval)
 end
+typed_hcat(::Type{SparseMatrixCSC}, X::AbstractSparseVector...) =
+    typed_hcat(SparseMatrixCSC{promote_eltype(X...)}, X...)
+typed_hcat{Tv}(::Type{SparseMatrixCSC{Tv}}, X::AbstractSparseVector...) =
+    typed_hcat(SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,promote_indtype(X...)}, X...)
+typed_hcat{T<:SparseMatrixCSC}(::Type{T}, Xin::AbstractVector...) =
+    typed_hcat(T, map(sparse, Xin)...)
 
-function vcat{Tv,Ti}(X::AbstractSparseVector{Tv,Ti}...)
+typed_vcat{T<:SparseVector}(::Type{T}) = T(0)
+function typed_vcat{Tv,Ti<:Integer}(::Type{SparseVector{Tv,Ti}}, X::AbstractSparseVector...)
     # check sizes
     n = length(X)
     tnnz = 0
@@ -759,11 +768,18 @@ function vcat{Tv,Ti}(X::AbstractSparseVector{Tv,Ti}...)
     end
     SparseVector(len, rnzind, rnzval)
 end
+typed_vcat(::Type{SparseVector}, X::AbstractSparseVector...) =
+    typed_vcat(SparseVector{promote_eltype(X...)}, X...)
+typed_vcat{Tv}(::Type{SparseVector{Tv}}, X::AbstractSparseVector...) =
+    typed_vcat(SparseVector{Tv,promote_indtype(X...)}, X...)
+typed_vcat{T<:SparseVector}(::Type{T}, Xin::AbstractVector...) =
+    typed_vcat(T, map(sparse, Xin)...)
+
+hcat(Xin::Union{Vector, AbstractSparseVector, SparseMatrixCSC}...) = typed_hcat(SparseMatrixCSC, Xin...)
 
-hcat(Xin::Union{AbstractSparseVector, SparseMatrixCSC}...) = hcat(map(SparseMatrixCSC, Xin)...)
-vcat(Xin::Union{AbstractSparseVector, SparseMatrixCSC}...) = vcat(map(SparseMatrixCSC, Xin)...)
-hcat(Xin::Union{Vector, AbstractSparseVector}...) = hcat(map(sparse, Xin)...)
-vcat(Xin::Union{Vector, AbstractSparseVector}...) = vcat(map(sparse, Xin)...)
+vcat(Xin::Union{AbstractSparseVector, SparseMatrixCSC}...) = typed_vcat(SparseMatrixCSC, Xin...)
+vcat(Xin::Union{Vector, AbstractSparseVector}...) = typed_vcat(SparseVector, Xin...)
+vcat(Xin::AbstractSparseVector...) = typed_vcat(SparseVector, Xin...)
 
 ### math functions