diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index c4485b2..6b8f650 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+* Make sure $A works with primitive values. (mr_justin, kangax)
+
 * Do not browser sniff when forking `unmark` function in selector suite. Instead use a proper test - PROPERTIES_ATTRIBUTES_MAP. (kangax)
 
 * Do not use short-hand element methods notation (@element.getStyle() -> Element.getStyle(@element)) for performance reasons. Do not use `$A` and `Array.prototype.shift` when `Array.prototype.slice` can be used instead. (kangax)
diff --git a/src/lang/array.js b/src/lang/array.js
index 8d6e1d4..afe5e76 100644
--- a/src/lang/array.js
+++ b/src/lang/array.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ function $A(iterable) {
   if (!iterable) return [];
   // Safari <2.0.4 crashes when accessing property of a node list with property accessor.
   // It nevertheless works fine with `in` operator, which is why we use it here
-  if ('toArray' in iterable) return iterable.toArray();
+  if ('toArray' in Object(iterable)) return iterable.toArray();
   var length = iterable.length || 0, results = new Array(length);
   while (length--) results[length] = iterable[length];
   return results;
diff --git a/test/unit/array_test.js b/test/unit/array_test.js
index d090504..7fa07b0 100644
--- a/test/unit/array_test.js
+++ b/test/unit/array_test.js
@@ -33,6 +33,16 @@ new Test.Unit.Runner({
     this.assertEqual(3, $A(element.childNodes).length);
   },
   
+  testToArrayOnPrimitive: function() {
+    this.assertEnumEqual(['a', 'b', 'c'], $A('abc'));
+    this.assertEnumEqual([], $A(''));
+    this.assertEnumEqual([], $A(null));
+    this.assertEnumEqual([], $A(undefined));
+    this.assertEnumEqual([], $A());
+    this.assertEnumEqual([], $A(5));
+    this.assertEnumEqual([], $A(true));
+  },
+  
   testClear: function(){
     this.assertEnumEqual([], [].clear());
     this.assertEnumEqual([], [1].clear());