diff --git a/include/pybind11/numpy.h b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
index 7108e06c4..cf64fafeb 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/numpy.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
@@ -1093,35 +1093,33 @@ public:
     // Reference to element at a given index
     template <typename... Ix>
     const T &at(Ix... index) const {
-        if ((ssize_t) sizeof...(index) != ndim()) {
-            fail_dim_check(sizeof...(index), "index dimension mismatch");
-        }
-        return *(static_cast<const T *>(array::data())
-                 + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
+        check_access_precondition(index...);
+        return const_reference(index...);
     }
 
     // Mutable reference to element at a given index
     template <typename... Ix>
     T &mutable_at(Ix... index) {
-        if ((ssize_t) sizeof...(index) != ndim()) {
-            fail_dim_check(sizeof...(index), "index dimension mismatch");
-        }
-        return *(static_cast<T *>(array::mutable_data())
-                 + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
+        check_access_precondition(index...);
+        return mutable_reference(index...);
     }
 
     // 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());
+#if defined(NDEBUG)
+        check_access_precondition(index...);
+#endif
+        return const_reference(index...);
     }
 
     // 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());
+#if defined(NDEBUG)
+        check_access_precondition(index...);
+#endif
+        return mutable_reference(index...);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -1180,6 +1178,26 @@ protected:
                                                            | ExtraFlags,
                                                        nullptr);
     }
+
+private:
+    template <typename... Ix>
+    const T &const_reference(Ix... index) const {
+        return *(static_cast<const T *>(array::data())
+                 + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
+    }
+
+    template <typename... Ix>
+    T &mutable_reference(Ix... index) {
+        return *(static_cast<T *>(array::mutable_data())
+                 + byte_offset(ssize_t(index)...) / itemsize());
+    }
+
+    template <typename... Ix>
+    void check_access_precondition(Ix... index) const {
+        if ((ssize_t) sizeof...(index) != ndim()) {
+            fail_dim_check(sizeof...(index), "index dimension mismatch");
+        }
+    }
 };
 
 template <typename T>
diff --git a/tests/test_numpy_array.cpp b/tests/test_numpy_array.cpp
index 6c20dc42a..8942672e9 100644
--- a/tests/test_numpy_array.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_numpy_array.cpp
@@ -132,12 +132,12 @@ arr_t &mutate_at_t(arr_t &a, Ix... idx) {
     return a;
 }
 template <typename... Ix>
-arr_t &call_operator_subscript_t(arr_t &a, Ix... idx) {
+arr_t &subscript_via_call_operator_t(arr_t &a, Ix... idx) {
     a(idx...)++;
     return a;
 }
 template <typename... Ix>
-py::ssize_t const_call_operator_subscript_t(const arr_t &a, Ix... idx) {
+py::ssize_t const_subscript_via_call_operator_t(const arr_t &a, Ix... idx) {
     return a(idx...);
 }
 
@@ -219,8 +219,8 @@ TEST_SUBMODULE(numpy_array, sm) {
     def_index_fn(mutate_data_t, arr_t &);
     def_index_fn(at_t, const arr_t &);
     def_index_fn(mutate_at_t, arr_t &);
-    def_index_fn(call_operator_subscript_t, arr_t &);
-    def_index_fn(const_call_operator_subscript_t, const arr_t &);
+    def_index_fn(subscript_via_call_operator_t, arr_t &);
+    def_index_fn(const_subscript_via_call_operator_t, const arr_t &);
 
     // test_make_c_f_array
     sm.def("make_f_array", [] { return py::array_t<float>({2, 2}, {4, 8}); });
diff --git a/tests/test_numpy_array.py b/tests/test_numpy_array.py
index 12e7d17d1..cfad6f09e 100644
--- a/tests/test_numpy_array.py
+++ b/tests/test_numpy_array.py
@@ -125,6 +125,13 @@ def test_at(arr):
     assert all(m.mutate_at_t(arr, 1, 0).ravel() == [1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6])
 
 
+def test_subscript_via_call_operator(arr):
+    assert m.const_subscript_via_call_operator_t(arr, 0, 2) == 3
+    assert m.const_subscript_via_call_operator_t(arr, 1, 0) == 4
+    assert all(m.subscript_via_call_operator_t(arr, 0, 2).ravel() == [1, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6])
+    assert all(m.subscript_via_call_operator_t(arr, 1, 0).ravel() == [1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6])
+
+
 def test_mutate_readonly(arr):
     arr.flags.writeable = False
     for func, args in (