diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 87d38d3d8..15cf8d959 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Breaking changes queued for v2.0.0 (Not yet released)
   (now uses prefix increment operator); it now also accepts iterators with
   different begin/end types as long as they are equality comparable.
 * ``arg()`` now accepts a wider range of argument types for default values
-* Added ``repr()`` method to the ``handle`` class.
+* Added ``py::repr()`` function which is equivalent to Python's builtin ``repr()``.
 * Added support for registering structured dtypes via ``PYBIND11_NUMPY_DTYPE()`` macro.
 * Added ``PYBIND11_STR_TYPE`` macro which maps to the ``builtins.str`` type.
 * Added a simplified ``buffer_info`` constructor for 1-dimensional buffers.
diff --git a/include/pybind11/attr.h b/include/pybind11/attr.h
index 1ea925c18..d728210e0 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/attr.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/attr.h
@@ -265,9 +265,9 @@ template <> struct process_attribute<arg_v> : process_attribute_default<arg_v> {
             auto descr = "'" + std::string(a.name) + ": " + a.type + "'";
             if (r->class_) {
                 if (r->name)
-                    descr += " in method '" + (std::string) r->class_.str() + "." + (std::string) r->name + "'";
+                    descr += " in method '" + (std::string) str(r->class_) + "." + (std::string) r->name + "'";
                 else
-                    descr += " in method of '" + (std::string) r->class_.str() + "'";
+                    descr += " in method of '" + (std::string) str(r->class_) + "'";
             } else if (r->name) {
                 descr += " in function named '" + (std::string) r->name + "'";
             }
diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index 90d9d4b33..fa9d21d7c 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ PYBIND11_NOINLINE inline std::string error_string() {
         errorString += ": ";
     }
     if (scope.value)
-        errorString += (std::string) handle(scope.value).str();
+        errorString += (std::string) str(scope.value);
 
     PyErr_NormalizeException(&scope.type, &scope.value, &scope.trace);
 
@@ -1056,7 +1056,7 @@ template <typename T, typename SFINAE> type_caster<T, SFINAE> &load_type(type_ca
         throw cast_error("Unable to cast Python instance to C++ type (compile in debug mode for details)");
 #else
         throw cast_error("Unable to cast Python instance of type " +
-            (std::string) handle.get_type().str() + " to C++ type '" + type_id<T>() + "''");
+            (std::string) str(handle.get_type()) + " to C++ type '" + type_id<T>() + "''");
 #endif
     }
     return conv;
@@ -1070,16 +1070,20 @@ template <typename T> make_caster<T> load_type(const handle &handle) {
 
 NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
-template <typename T> T cast(const handle &handle) {
+template <typename T, detail::enable_if_t<!detail::is_pyobject<T>::value, int> = 0>
+T cast(const handle &handle) {
     static_assert(!detail::cast_is_temporary_value_reference<T>::value,
             "Unable to cast type to reference: value is local to type caster");
     using type_caster = detail::make_caster<T>;
     return detail::load_type<T>(handle).operator typename type_caster::template cast_op_type<T>();
 }
 
-template <typename T> object cast(const T &value,
-        return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
-        handle parent = handle()) {
+template <typename T, detail::enable_if_t<detail::is_pyobject<T>::value, int> = 0>
+T cast(const handle &handle) { return {handle, true}; }
+
+template <typename T, detail::enable_if_t<!detail::is_pyobject<T>::value, int> = 0>
+object cast(const T &value, return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
+            handle parent = handle()) {
     if (policy == return_value_policy::automatic)
         policy = std::is_pointer<T>::value ? return_value_policy::take_ownership : return_value_policy::copy;
     else if (policy == return_value_policy::automatic_reference)
@@ -1097,7 +1101,7 @@ detail::enable_if_t<detail::move_always<T>::value || detail::move_if_unreference
         throw cast_error("Unable to cast Python instance to C++ rvalue: instance has multiple references"
             " (compile in debug mode for details)");
 #else
-        throw cast_error("Unable to move from Python " + (std::string) obj.get_type().str() +
+        throw cast_error("Unable to move from Python " + (std::string) str(obj.get_type()) +
                 " instance to C++ " + type_id<T>() + " instance: instance has multiple references");
 #endif
 
@@ -1274,7 +1278,7 @@ public:
         int _[] = { 0, (process(args_list, std::forward<Ts>(values)), 0)... };
         ignore_unused(_);
 
-        m_args = object(PyList_AsTuple(args_list.ptr()), false);
+        m_args = std::move(args_list);
     }
 
     const tuple &args() const & { return m_args; }
@@ -1336,7 +1340,7 @@ private:
 #if defined(NDEBUG)
                 multiple_values_error();
 #else
-                multiple_values_error(k.first.str());
+                multiple_values_error(str(k.first));
 #endif
             }
             m_kwargs[k.first] = k.second;
diff --git a/include/pybind11/common.h b/include/pybind11/common.h
index f6e54e7f2..e0ebedeaf 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/common.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/common.h
@@ -111,7 +111,6 @@
 #define PYBIND11_BYTES_FROM_STRING_AND_SIZE PyBytes_FromStringAndSize
 #define PYBIND11_BYTES_AS_STRING_AND_SIZE PyBytes_AsStringAndSize
 #define PYBIND11_BYTES_AS_STRING PyBytes_AsString
-#define PYBIND11_BYTES_CHECK PyBytes_Check
 #define PYBIND11_LONG_CHECK(o) PyLong_Check(o)
 #define PYBIND11_LONG_AS_LONGLONG(o) PyLong_AsLongLong(o)
 #define PYBIND11_LONG_AS_UNSIGNED_LONGLONG(o) PyLong_AsUnsignedLongLong(o)
@@ -130,7 +129,6 @@
 #define PYBIND11_BYTES_FROM_STRING_AND_SIZE PyString_FromStringAndSize
 #define PYBIND11_BYTES_AS_STRING_AND_SIZE PyString_AsStringAndSize
 #define PYBIND11_BYTES_AS_STRING PyString_AsString
-#define PYBIND11_BYTES_CHECK PyString_Check
 #define PYBIND11_LONG_CHECK(o) (PyInt_Check(o) || PyLong_Check(o))
 #define PYBIND11_LONG_AS_LONGLONG(o) (PyInt_Check(o) ? (long long) PyLong_AsLong(o) : PyLong_AsLongLong(o))
 #define PYBIND11_LONG_AS_UNSIGNED_LONGLONG(o) (PyInt_Check(o) ? (unsigned long long) PyLong_AsUnsignedLong(o) : PyLong_AsUnsignedLongLong(o))
diff --git a/include/pybind11/numpy.h b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
index 2ffbc5f5c..9fe438502 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/numpy.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
@@ -540,10 +540,12 @@ protected:
 
 template <typename T, int ExtraFlags = array::forcecast> class array_t : public array {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(array_t, array, is_non_null, m_ptr = ensure_(m_ptr));
-
     array_t() : array() { }
 
+    array_t(handle h, bool borrowed) : array(h, borrowed) { m_ptr = ensure_(m_ptr); }
+
+    array_t(const object &o) : array(o) { m_ptr = ensure_(m_ptr); }
+
     explicit array_t(const buffer_info& info) : array(info) { }
 
     array_t(const std::vector<size_t> &shape,
@@ -588,8 +590,6 @@ public:
         return *(static_cast<T*>(array::mutable_data()) + byte_offset(size_t(index)...) / itemsize());
     }
 
-    static bool is_non_null(PyObject *ptr) { return ptr != nullptr; }
-
     static PyObject *ensure_(PyObject *ptr) {
         if (ptr == nullptr)
             return nullptr;
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index 0cd35c9ba..ca116eb4c 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ protected:
             msg += "\nInvoked with: ";
             tuple args_(args, true);
             for (size_t ti = overloads->is_constructor ? 1 : 0; ti < args_.size(); ++ti) {
-                msg += static_cast<std::string>(static_cast<object>(args_[ti]).str());
+                msg += static_cast<std::string>(pybind11::str(args_[ti]));
                 if ((ti + 1) != args_.size() )
                     msg += ", ";
             }
@@ -665,11 +665,9 @@ protected:
 #endif
 
         size_t num_bases = rec->bases.size();
-        tuple bases(num_bases);
-        for (size_t i = 0; i < num_bases; ++i)
-            bases[i] = rec->bases[i];
+        auto bases = tuple(rec->bases);
 
-        std::string full_name = (scope_module ? ((std::string) scope_module.str() + "." + rec->name)
+        std::string full_name = (scope_module ? ((std::string) pybind11::str(scope_module) + "." + rec->name)
                                               : std::string(rec->name));
 
         char *tp_doc = nullptr;
@@ -1470,7 +1468,7 @@ NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 PYBIND11_NOINLINE inline void print(tuple args, dict kwargs) {
     auto strings = tuple(args.size());
     for (size_t i = 0; i < args.size(); ++i) {
-        strings[i] = args[i].str();
+        strings[i] = str(args[i]);
     }
     auto sep = kwargs.contains("sep") ? kwargs["sep"] : cast(" ");
     auto line = sep.attr("join")(strings);
@@ -1654,7 +1652,7 @@ inline function get_type_overload(const void *this_ptr, const detail::type_info
 
     /* Don't call dispatch code if invoked from overridden function */
     PyFrameObject *frame = PyThreadState_Get()->frame;
-    if (frame && (std::string) pybind11::handle(frame->f_code->co_name).str() == name &&
+    if (frame && (std::string) str(frame->f_code->co_name) == name &&
         frame->f_code->co_argcount > 0) {
         PyFrame_FastToLocals(frame);
         PyObject *self_caller = PyDict_GetItem(
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index ced8eb076..9257643e8 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ public:
         object call(Args&&... args) const;
 
     bool is_none() const { return derived().ptr() == Py_None; }
+    PYBIND11_DEPRECATED("Instead of obj.str(), use py::str(obj)")
     pybind11::str str() const;
-    pybind11::str repr() const;
 
     int ref_count() const { return static_cast<int>(Py_REFCNT(derived().ptr())); }
     handle get_type() const;
@@ -222,13 +222,13 @@ public:
 
     template <typename T = Policy>
     PYBIND11_DEPRECATED("Use of obj.attr(...) as bool is deprecated in favor of pybind11::hasattr(obj, ...)")
-    operator enable_if_t<std::is_same<T, accessor_policies::str_attr>::value ||
+    explicit operator enable_if_t<std::is_same<T, accessor_policies::str_attr>::value ||
             std::is_same<T, accessor_policies::obj_attr>::value, bool>() const {
         return hasattr(obj, key);
     }
     template <typename T = Policy>
     PYBIND11_DEPRECATED("Use of obj[key] as bool is deprecated in favor of obj.contains(key)")
-    operator enable_if_t<std::is_same<T, accessor_policies::generic_item>::value, bool>() const {
+    explicit operator enable_if_t<std::is_same<T, accessor_policies::generic_item>::value, bool>() const {
         return obj.contains(key);
     }
 
@@ -390,20 +390,23 @@ class unpacking_collector;
 
 NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
-#define PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(Name, Parent, CheckFun, CvtStmt) \
+#define PYBIND11_OBJECT_COMMON(Name, Parent, CheckFun) \
     public: \
-        Name(const handle &h, bool borrowed) : Parent(h, borrowed) { CvtStmt; } \
-        /* These are deliberately not 'explicit' to allow implicit conversion from object: */ \
-        Name(const object& o): Parent(o) { CvtStmt; } \
-        Name(object&& o) noexcept : Parent(std::move(o)) { CvtStmt; } \
-        Name& operator=(object&& o) noexcept { (void) object::operator=(std::move(o)); CvtStmt; return *this; } \
-        Name& operator=(const object& o) { return static_cast<Name&>(object::operator=(o)); CvtStmt; } \
         PYBIND11_DEPRECATED("Use py::isinstance<py::python_type>(obj) instead") \
         bool check() const { return m_ptr != nullptr && (bool) CheckFun(m_ptr); } \
         static bool _check(handle h) { return h.ptr() != nullptr && CheckFun(h.ptr()); }
 
+#define PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(Name, Parent, CheckFun, ConvertFun) \
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_COMMON(Name, Parent, CheckFun) \
+    Name(handle h, bool borrowed) : Name(object(h, borrowed)) { } \
+    /* This is deliberately not 'explicit' to allow implicit conversion from object: */ \
+    Name(const object &o) : Parent(ConvertFun(o.ptr()), false) { if (!m_ptr) throw error_already_set(); }
+
 #define PYBIND11_OBJECT(Name, Parent, CheckFun) \
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(Name, Parent, CheckFun, )
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_COMMON(Name, Parent, CheckFun) \
+    Name(handle h, bool borrowed) : Parent(h, borrowed) { } \
+    /* This is deliberately not 'explicit' to allow implicit conversion from object: */ \
+    Name(const object &o) : Parent(o) { }
 
 #define PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(Name, Parent, CheckFun) \
     PYBIND11_OBJECT(Name, Parent, CheckFun) \
@@ -411,26 +414,9 @@ NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
 class iterator : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(iterator, object, PyIter_Check, value = object(); ready = false)
-    iterator() : object(), value(object()), ready(false) { }
-    iterator(const iterator& it) : object(it), value(it.value), ready(it.ready) { }
-    iterator(iterator&& it) : object(std::move(it)), value(std::move(it.value)), ready(it.ready) { }
-
-    /** Caveat: this copy constructor does not (and cannot) clone the internal
+    /** Caveat: copying an iterator does not (and cannot) clone the internal
         state of the Python iterable */
-    iterator &operator=(const iterator &it) {
-        (void) object::operator=(it);
-        value = it.value;
-        ready = it.ready;
-        return *this;
-    }
-
-    iterator &operator=(iterator &&it) noexcept {
-        (void) object::operator=(std::move(it));
-        value = std::move(it.value);
-        ready = it.ready;
-        return *this;
-    }
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(iterator, object, PyIter_Check)
 
     iterator& operator++() {
         if (m_ptr)
@@ -465,8 +451,8 @@ private:
     void advance() { value = object(PyIter_Next(m_ptr), false); }
 
 private:
-    object value;
-    bool ready;
+    object value = {};
+    bool ready = false;
 };
 
 class iterable : public object {
@@ -478,7 +464,7 @@ class bytes;
 
 class str : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(str, object, detail::PyUnicode_Check_Permissive)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(str, object, detail::PyUnicode_Check_Permissive, raw_str)
 
     str(const char *c, size_t n)
     : object(PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize(c, (ssize_t) n), false) {
@@ -486,7 +472,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     // 'explicit' is explicitly omitted from the following constructors to allow implicit conversion to py::str from C++ string-like objects
-    str(const char *c)
+    str(const char *c = "")
         : object(PyUnicode_FromString(c), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate string object!");
     }
@@ -495,6 +481,8 @@ public:
 
     explicit str(const bytes &b);
 
+    explicit str(handle h) : object(raw_str(h.ptr()), false) { }
+
     operator std::string() const {
         object temp = *this;
         if (PyUnicode_Check(m_ptr)) {
@@ -513,6 +501,18 @@ public:
     str format(Args &&...args) const {
         return attr("format")(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
     }
+
+private:
+    /// Return string representation -- always returns a new reference, even if already a str
+    static PyObject *raw_str(PyObject *op) {
+        PyObject *str_value = PyObject_Str(op);
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION < 3
+        if (!str_value) throw error_already_set();
+        PyObject *unicode = PyUnicode_FromEncodedObject(str_value, "utf-8", nullptr);
+        Py_XDECREF(str_value); str_value = unicode;
+#endif
+        return str_value;
+    }
 };
 
 inline namespace literals {
@@ -522,10 +522,10 @@ inline str operator"" _s(const char *s, size_t size) { return {s, size}; }
 
 class bytes : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(bytes, object, PYBIND11_BYTES_CHECK)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT(bytes, object, PYBIND11_BYTES_CHECK)
 
     // Allow implicit conversion:
-    bytes(const char *c)
+    bytes(const char *c = "")
     : object(PYBIND11_BYTES_FROM_STRING(c), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate bytes object!");
     }
@@ -585,15 +585,25 @@ public:
 
 class bool_ : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(bool_, object, PyBool_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(bool_, object, PyBool_Check, raw_bool)
+    bool_() : object(Py_False, true) { }
     // Allow implicit conversion from and to `bool`:
     bool_(bool value) : object(value ? Py_True : Py_False, true) { }
     operator bool() const { return m_ptr && PyLong_AsLong(m_ptr) != 0; }
+
+private:
+    /// Return the truth value of an object -- always returns a new reference
+    static PyObject *raw_bool(PyObject *op) {
+        const auto value = PyObject_IsTrue(op);
+        if (value == -1) return nullptr;
+        return handle(value ? Py_True : Py_False).inc_ref().ptr();
+    }
 };
 
 class int_ : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(int_, object, PYBIND11_LONG_CHECK)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(int_, object, PYBIND11_LONG_CHECK, PyNumber_Long)
+    int_() : object(PyLong_FromLong(0), false) { }
     // Allow implicit conversion from C++ integral types:
     template <typename T,
               detail::enable_if_t<std::is_integral<T>::value, int> = 0>
@@ -631,12 +641,12 @@ public:
 
 class float_ : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(float_, object, PyFloat_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(float_, object, PyFloat_Check, PyNumber_Float)
     // Allow implicit conversion from float/double:
     float_(float value) : object(PyFloat_FromDouble((double) value), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate float object!");
     }
-    float_(double value) : object(PyFloat_FromDouble((double) value), false) {
+    float_(double value = .0) : object(PyFloat_FromDouble((double) value), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate float object!");
     }
     operator float() const { return (float) PyFloat_AsDouble(m_ptr); }
@@ -685,7 +695,7 @@ public:
 
 class tuple : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT(tuple, object, PyTuple_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(tuple, object, PyTuple_Check, PySequence_Tuple)
     explicit tuple(size_t size = 0) : object(PyTuple_New((ssize_t) size), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate tuple object!");
     }
@@ -695,7 +705,7 @@ public:
 
 class dict : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT(dict, object, PyDict_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(dict, object, PyDict_Check, raw_dict)
     dict() : object(PyDict_New(), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate dict object!");
     }
@@ -711,6 +721,14 @@ public:
     void clear() const { PyDict_Clear(ptr()); }
     bool contains(handle key) const { return PyDict_Contains(ptr(), key.ptr()) == 1; }
     bool contains(const char *key) const { return PyDict_Contains(ptr(), pybind11::str(key).ptr()) == 1; }
+
+private:
+    /// Call the `dict` Python type -- always returns a new reference
+    static PyObject *raw_dict(PyObject *op) {
+        if (PyDict_Check(op))
+            return handle(op).inc_ref().ptr();
+        return PyObject_CallFunctionObjArgs((PyObject *) &PyDict_Type, op, nullptr);
+    }
 };
 
 class sequence : public object {
@@ -722,7 +740,7 @@ public:
 
 class list : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT(list, object, PyList_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(list, object, PyList_Check, PySequence_List)
     explicit list(size_t size = 0) : object(PyList_New((ssize_t) size), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate list object!");
     }
@@ -736,7 +754,7 @@ class kwargs : public dict { PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(kwargs, dict, PyDict_Check)
 
 class set : public object {
 public:
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT(set, object, PySet_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(set, object, PySet_Check, PySet_New)
     set() : object(PySet_New(nullptr), false) {
         if (!m_ptr) pybind11_fail("Could not allocate set object!");
     }
@@ -797,7 +815,7 @@ public:
             pybind11_fail("Unable to create memoryview from buffer descriptor");
     }
 
-    PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(memoryview, object, PyMemoryView_Check)
+    PYBIND11_OBJECT_CVT(memoryview, object, PyMemoryView_Check, PyMemoryView_FromObject)
 };
 
 inline size_t len(handle h) {
@@ -807,6 +825,17 @@ inline size_t len(handle h) {
     return (size_t) result;
 }
 
+inline str repr(handle h) {
+    PyObject *str_value = PyObject_Repr(h.ptr());
+    if (!str_value) throw error_already_set();
+#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION < 3
+    PyObject *unicode = PyUnicode_FromEncodedObject(str_value, "utf-8", nullptr);
+    Py_XDECREF(str_value); str_value = unicode;
+    if (!str_value) throw error_already_set();
+#endif
+    return {str_value, false};
+}
+
 NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 template <typename D> iterator object_api<D>::begin() const { return {PyObject_GetIter(derived().ptr()), false}; }
 template <typename D> iterator object_api<D>::end() const { return {nullptr, false}; }
@@ -820,24 +849,7 @@ template <typename D> template <typename T> bool object_api<D>::contains(T &&key
 }
 
 template <typename D>
-pybind11::str object_api<D>::str() const {
-    PyObject *str_value = PyObject_Str(derived().ptr());
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION < 3
-    PyObject *unicode = PyUnicode_FromEncodedObject(str_value, "utf-8", nullptr);
-    Py_XDECREF(str_value); str_value = unicode;
-#endif
-    return {str_value, false};
-}
-
-template <typename D>
-pybind11::str object_api<D>::repr() const {
-    PyObject *str_value = PyObject_Repr(derived().ptr());
-#if PY_MAJOR_VERSION < 3
-    PyObject *unicode = PyUnicode_FromEncodedObject(str_value, "utf-8", nullptr);
-    Py_XDECREF(str_value); str_value = unicode;
-#endif
-    return {str_value, false};
-}
+pybind11::str object_api<D>::str() const { return pybind11::str(derived()); }
 
 template <typename D>
 handle object_api<D>::get_type() const { return (PyObject *) Py_TYPE(derived().ptr()); }
diff --git a/include/pybind11/stl.h b/include/pybind11/stl.h
index ed8ab5cbb..fc058ef25 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/stl.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/stl.h
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ template<> struct type_caster<std::experimental::nullopt_t>
 NAMESPACE_END(detail)
 
 inline std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const handle &obj) {
-    os << (std::string) obj.str();
+    os << (std::string) str(obj);
     return os;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp b/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp
index 8f680c071..20cb36269 100644
--- a/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_numpy_dtypes.cpp
@@ -196,14 +196,14 @@ py::list print_format_descriptors() {
 
 py::list print_dtypes() {
     const auto dtypes = {
-        py::dtype::of<SimpleStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<PackedStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<NestedStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<PartialStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<PartialNestedStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<StringStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<EnumStruct>().str(),
-        py::dtype::of<StructWithUglyNames>().str()
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<SimpleStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<PackedStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<NestedStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<PartialStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<PartialNestedStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<StringStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<EnumStruct>()),
+        py::str(py::dtype::of<StructWithUglyNames>())
     };
     auto l = py::list();
     for (const auto &s : dtypes) {
diff --git a/tests/test_python_types.cpp b/tests/test_python_types.cpp
index 97cdc2e87..05ba4af9e 100644
--- a/tests/test_python_types.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_python_types.cpp
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ public:
     }
 
     void test_print(const py::object& obj) {
-        py::print(obj.str());
-        py::print(obj.repr());
+        py::print(py::str(obj));
+        py::print(py::repr(obj));
     }
 
     static int value;
@@ -321,4 +321,46 @@ test_initializer python_types([](py::module &m) {
 
     m.attr("has_optional") = py::cast(has_optional);
     m.attr("has_exp_optional") = py::cast(has_exp_optional);
+
+    m.def("test_default_constructors", []() {
+        return py::dict(
+            "str"_a=py::str(),
+            "bool"_a=py::bool_(),
+            "int"_a=py::int_(),
+            "float"_a=py::float_(),
+            "tuple"_a=py::tuple(),
+            "list"_a=py::list(),
+            "dict"_a=py::dict(),
+            "set"_a=py::set()
+        );
+    });
+
+    m.def("test_converting_constructors", [](py::dict d) {
+        return py::dict(
+            "str"_a=py::str(d["str"]),
+            "bool"_a=py::bool_(d["bool"]),
+            "int"_a=py::int_(d["int"]),
+            "float"_a=py::float_(d["float"]),
+            "tuple"_a=py::tuple(d["tuple"]),
+            "list"_a=py::list(d["list"]),
+            "dict"_a=py::dict(d["dict"]),
+            "set"_a=py::set(d["set"]),
+            "memoryview"_a=py::memoryview(d["memoryview"])
+        );
+    });
+
+    m.def("test_cast_functions", [](py::dict d) {
+        // When converting between Python types, obj.cast<T>() should be the same as T(obj)
+        return py::dict(
+            "str"_a=d["str"].cast<py::str>(),
+            "bool"_a=d["bool"].cast<py::bool_>(),
+            "int"_a=d["int"].cast<py::int_>(),
+            "float"_a=d["float"].cast<py::float_>(),
+            "tuple"_a=d["tuple"].cast<py::tuple>(),
+            "list"_a=d["list"].cast<py::list>(),
+            "dict"_a=d["dict"].cast<py::dict>(),
+            "set"_a=d["set"].cast<py::set>(),
+            "memoryview"_a=d["memoryview"].cast<py::memoryview>()
+        );
+    });
 });
diff --git a/tests/test_python_types.py b/tests/test_python_types.py
index b77a95b04..0b24c138f 100644
--- a/tests/test_python_types.py
+++ b/tests/test_python_types.py
@@ -330,3 +330,29 @@ def test_exp_optional():
     assert test_nullopt_exp(None) == 42
     assert test_nullopt_exp(42) == 42
     assert test_nullopt_exp(43) == 43
+
+
+def test_constructors():
+    """C++ default and converting constructors are equivalent to type calls in Python"""
+    from pybind11_tests import (test_default_constructors, test_converting_constructors,
+                                test_cast_functions)
+
+    types = [str, bool, int, float, tuple, list, dict, set]
+    expected = {t.__name__: t() for t in types}
+    assert test_default_constructors() == expected
+
+    data = {
+        str: 42,
+        bool: "Not empty",
+        int: "42",
+        float: "+1e3",
+        tuple: range(3),
+        list: range(3),
+        dict: [("two", 2), ("one", 1), ("three", 3)],
+        set: [4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6],
+        memoryview: b'abc'
+    }
+    inputs = {k.__name__: v for k, v in data.items()}
+    expected = {k.__name__: k(v) for k, v in data.items()}
+    assert test_converting_constructors(inputs) == expected
+    assert test_cast_functions(inputs) == expected