diff --git a/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl b/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl
index 73dc5ebaf7fad..85f1ea7c8db14 100644
--- a/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl
+++ b/base/sparse/sparsematrix.jl
@@ -1883,17 +1883,9 @@ function setindex!{Tv,Ti,T<:Real}(A::SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}, x, I::AbstractVecto
     A
 end
 
-
 # Sparse concatenation
 
 function vcat(X::SparseMatrixCSC...)
-    Tv = promote_type(map(x->eltype(x.nzval), X)...)
-    Ti = promote_type(map(x->eltype(x.rowval), X)...)
-
-    vcat(map(x->convert(SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}, x), X)...)
-end
-
-function vcat{Tv,Ti<:Integer}(X::SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}...)
     num = length(X)
     mX = [ size(x, 1) for x in X ]
     nX = [ size(x, 2) for x in X ]
@@ -1906,6 +1898,13 @@ function vcat{Tv,Ti<:Integer}(X::SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}...)
         end
     end
 
+    Tv = eltype(X[1].nzval)
+    Ti = eltype(X[1].rowval)
+    for i = 2:length(X)
+        Tv = promote_type(Tv, eltype(X[i].nzval))
+        Ti = promote_type(Ti, eltype(X[i].rowval))
+    end
+
     nnzX = [ nnz(x) for x in X ]
     nnz_res = sum(nnzX)
     colptr = Array(Ti, n + 1)
@@ -1917,18 +1916,12 @@ function vcat{Tv,Ti<:Integer}(X::SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}...)
         mX_sofar = 0
         ptr_res = colptr[c]
         for i = 1 : num
-            Xi = X[i]
-            colptrXi = Xi.colptr
-            rowvalXi = Xi.rowval
-            nzvalXi  = Xi.nzval
-
+            colptrXi = X[i].colptr
             col_length = (colptrXi[c + 1] - 1) - colptrXi[c]
-            ptrXi = colptrXi[c]
-            for k=ptr_res:(ptr_res + col_length)
-                @inbounds rowval[k] = rowvalXi[ptrXi] + mX_sofar
-                @inbounds nzval[k]  = nzvalXi[ptrXi]
-                ptrXi += 1
-            end
+            ptr_Xi = colptrXi[c]
+
+            stuffcol!(X[i], colptr, rowval, nzval,
+                      ptr_res, ptr_Xi, col_length, mX_sofar)
 
             ptr_res += col_length + 1
             mX_sofar += mX[i]
@@ -1938,6 +1931,19 @@ function vcat{Tv,Ti<:Integer}(X::SparseMatrixCSC{Tv,Ti}...)
     SparseMatrixCSC(m, n, colptr, rowval, nzval)
 end
 
+@inline function stuffcol!(Xi::SparseMatrixCSC, colptr, rowval, nzval,
+                           ptr_res, ptr_Xi, col_length, mX_sofar)
+    colptrXi = Xi.colptr
+    rowvalXi = Xi.rowval
+    nzvalXi  = Xi.nzval
+
+    for k=ptr_res:(ptr_res + col_length)
+        @inbounds rowval[k] = rowvalXi[ptr_Xi] + mX_sofar
+        @inbounds nzval[k]  = nzvalXi[ptr_Xi]
+        ptr_Xi += 1
+    end
+end
+
 
 function hcat(X::SparseMatrixCSC...)
     num = length(X)