diff --git a/base/abstractarray.jl b/base/abstractarray.jl
index afdd39720081c..c4a197664d507 100644
--- a/base/abstractarray.jl
+++ b/base/abstractarray.jl
@@ -1030,7 +1030,7 @@ function repmat(a::AbstractVector, m::Int)
     return b
 end
 
-sub2ind(dims) = 1
+sub2ind(dims::(Integer...,)) = 1
 stagedfunction sub2ind{N}(dims::NTuple{N,Integer},I::Integer...)
     length(I) == N || throw(ArgumentError("number of subscripts should match length of dims"))
     ex=:(I[$N])
@@ -1052,24 +1052,25 @@ function sub2ind{T<:Integer}(dims::Array{T}, sub::Array{T})
     return ind
 end
 
-sub2ind{T<:Integer}(dims, I::AbstractVector{T}...) =
+sub2ind{T<:Integer}(dims::(Integer...,), I::AbstractVector{T}...) =
     [ sub2ind(dims, map(X->X[i], I)...)::Int for i=1:length(I[1]) ]
 
 
 ind2sub(dims::(), ind::Integer) = ind==1 ? () : throw(BoundsError())
-stagedfunction ind2sub{N}(dims::NTuple{N,Integer}, ind::Int)
+stagedfunction ind2sub{N}(dims::NTuple{N,Integer}, ind::Integer)
     subsyms = [symbol("i$k") for k=1:N]
-    subex = Expr(:block,[:($(subsyms[k])=rem(ind,dims[$k])+1;ind=div(ind,dims[$k])) for k=1:N-1]...)
+    subex = Expr(:block,[:($(subsyms[k])=rem(rest,dims[$k])+1;rest=div(rest,dims[$k])) for k=1:N-1]...)
     quote
-        ind-=1
+        $(Expr(:meta,:inline))
+        rest::Int=ind-1
         $(subex)
-        $(subsyms[N]) = ind+1
+        $(subsyms[N]) = rest+1
         $(Expr(:tuple,subsyms...))
     end
 end
-ind2sub(a::AbstractArray, ind::Integer) = ind2sub(size(a), Int(ind))
+ind2sub(a::AbstractArray, ind::Integer) = ind2sub(size(a), ind)
 
-function ind2sub{T<:Integer}(dims::(Integer,Integer...), ind::AbstractVector{T})
+function ind2sub{T<:Integer}(dims::(Integer...), ind::AbstractVector{T})
     n = length(dims)
     l = length(ind)
     t = ntuple(n, x->Array(Int, l))