diff --git a/include/pybind11/numpy.h b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
index 36077ec04..7108e06c4 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/numpy.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
@@ -1110,6 +1110,20 @@ public:
                  + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
     }
 
+    // const-reference to element at a given index without bounds checking
+    template <typename... Ix>
+    const T &operator()(Ix... index) const {
+        return *(static_cast<const T *>(array::data())
+                 + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
+    }
+
+    // mutable reference to element at a given index without bounds checking
+    template <typename... Ix>
+    T &operator()(Ix... index) {
+        return *(static_cast<T *>(array::mutable_data())
+                 + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns a proxy object that provides access to the array's data without bounds or
      * dimensionality checking.  Will throw if the array is missing the `writeable` flag.  Use with