diff --git a/base/printf.jl b/base/printf.jl
index 08f61adead2f0..36a82eb6f2b2f 100644
--- a/base/printf.jl
+++ b/base/printf.jl
@@ -1066,6 +1066,14 @@ function ini_hex(x::SmallFloatingPoint, symbols::Array{UInt8,1})
     end
 end
 
+function ini_hex(x::Integer)
+    len,pt,neg = decode_hex(x)
+    pt = (len-1)<<2
+    len,pt,neg
+end
+
+# not implemented
+ini_hex(x::Integer,ndigits::Int) = throw(MethodError(ini_hex,(x,ndigits)))
 
 #BigFloat
 fix_dec(out, d::BigFloat, flags::ASCIIString, width::Int, precision::Int, c::Char) = bigfloat_printf(out, d, flags, width, precision, c)
diff --git a/test/printf.jl b/test/printf.jl
index 5d5a141676899..3315251d4437d 100644
--- a/test/printf.jl
+++ b/test/printf.jl
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 # printf
 # int
 @test (@sprintf "%d" typemax(Int64)) == "9223372036854775807"
+@test (@sprintf "%a" typemax(Int64)) == "0x7.fffffffffffffffp+60"
+
 for (fmt, val) in (("%i", "42"),
                    ("%u", "42"),
                    ("Test: %i", "Test: 42"),
@@ -13,7 +15,10 @@ for (fmt, val) in (("%i", "42"),
                    ("% i", " 42"),
                    ("%+i", "+42"),
                    ("%4i", "  42"),
-                   ("%-4i", "42  "))
+                   ("%-4i", "42  "),
+                   ("%a","0x2.ap+4"),
+                   ("%20a","            0x2.ap+4"),
+                   ("%-20a","0x2.ap+4            "))
     @test( @eval(@sprintf($fmt, 42) == $val))
 end
 
@@ -80,6 +85,8 @@ end
 
 # hex float
 @test (@sprintf "%a" 1.5) == "0x1.8p+0"
+@test (@sprintf "%a" 1.5f0) == "0x1.8p+0"
+@test (@sprintf "%a" big"1.5") == "0x1.8p+0"
 @test (@sprintf "%#.0a" 1.5) == "0x2.p+0"
 @test (@sprintf "%+30a" 1/3) == "         +0x1.5555555555555p-2"