diff --git a/base/boot.jl b/base/boot.jl
index d0a686e761bf50..13c6cc10c81537 100644
--- a/base/boot.jl
+++ b/base/boot.jl
@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@ function Symbol(a::Array{UInt8,1})
                  ccall(:jl_array_ptr, Ptr{UInt8}, (Any,), a),
                  Intrinsics.arraylen(a))
 end
+Symbol(s::Symbol) = s
 
 # docsystem basics
 macro doc(x...)