diff --git a/src/compiletest/runtest.rs b/src/compiletest/runtest.rs
index 6f8a3ad83a3eb..bbfba84cc9e66 100644
--- a/src/compiletest/runtest.rs
+++ b/src/compiletest/runtest.rs
@@ -788,7 +788,7 @@ fn make_run_args(config: &config, _props: &TestProps, testfile: &Path) ->
     let exe_file = make_exe_name(config, testfile);
     // FIXME (#9639): This needs to handle non-utf8 paths
     args.push(exe_file.as_str().unwrap().to_owned());
-    let prog = args.shift();
+    let prog = args.shift().unwrap();
     return ProcArgs {prog: prog, args: args};
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libextra/dlist.rs b/src/libextra/dlist.rs
index 009cc53289e43..115700e7408a3 100644
--- a/src/libextra/dlist.rs
+++ b/src/libextra/dlist.rs
@@ -1053,7 +1053,7 @@ mod tests {
                 }
                 1 => {
                     m.pop_front();
-                    if v.len() > 0 { v.shift(); }
+                    v.shift();
                 }
                 2 | 4 =>  {
                     m.push_front(-i);
diff --git a/src/librustc/lib.rs b/src/librustc/lib.rs
index 26b20fb49dc74..7ecf2b1e18c42 100644
--- a/src/librustc/lib.rs
+++ b/src/librustc/lib.rs
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ pub fn describe_debug_flags() {
 
 pub fn run_compiler(args: &[~str], demitter: @diagnostic::Emitter) {
     let mut args = args.to_owned();
-    let binary = args.shift();
+    let binary = args.shift().unwrap();
 
     if args.is_empty() { usage(binary); return; }
 
diff --git a/src/librustc/middle/lint.rs b/src/librustc/middle/lint.rs
index e780864ffd507..7e6db24a4a319 100644
--- a/src/librustc/middle/lint.rs
+++ b/src/librustc/middle/lint.rs
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ impl<'a> Context<'a> {
         // rollback
         self.is_doc_hidden = old_is_doc_hidden;
         pushed.times(|| {
-            let (lint, lvl, src) = self.lint_stack.pop();
+            let (lint, lvl, src) = self.lint_stack.pop().unwrap();
             self.set_level(lint, lvl, src);
         })
     }
diff --git a/src/libstd/io/buffered.rs b/src/libstd/io/buffered.rs
index 928482b64dfa2..745273a1d74be 100644
--- a/src/libstd/io/buffered.rs
+++ b/src/libstd/io/buffered.rs
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ mod test {
 
     impl Reader for ShortReader {
         fn read(&mut self, _: &mut [u8]) -> Option<uint> {
-            self.lengths.shift_opt()
+            self.lengths.shift()
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/libstd/io/fs.rs b/src/libstd/io/fs.rs
index aac565f2c45e9..80dbaebe01c04 100644
--- a/src/libstd/io/fs.rs
+++ b/src/libstd/io/fs.rs
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ pub struct Directories {
 
 impl Iterator<Path> for Directories {
     fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Path> {
-        match self.stack.shift_opt() {
+        match self.stack.shift() {
             Some(path) => {
                 if path.is_dir() {
                     self.stack.push_all_move(readdir(&path));
diff --git a/src/libstd/str.rs b/src/libstd/str.rs
index ff029565cf1a4..f59cd855c32c9 100644
--- a/src/libstd/str.rs
+++ b/src/libstd/str.rs
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ impl<'a> Iterator<char> for Normalizations<'a> {
             self.sorted = true;
         }
 
-        match self.buffer.shift_opt() {
+        match self.buffer.shift() {
             Some((c, 0)) => {
                 self.sorted = false;
                 Some(c)
diff --git a/src/libstd/vec.rs b/src/libstd/vec.rs
index 1dfd2ea560008..6300abb55a199 100644
--- a/src/libstd/vec.rs
+++ b/src/libstd/vec.rs
@@ -1383,10 +1383,8 @@ pub trait OwnedVector<T> {
     fn push_all_move(&mut self, rhs: ~[T]);
     /// Remove the last element from a vector and return it, or `None` if it is empty
     fn pop(&mut self) -> Option<T>;
-    /// Removes the first element from a vector and return it
-    fn shift(&mut self) -> T;
     /// Removes the first element from a vector and return it, or `None` if it is empty
-    fn shift_opt(&mut self) -> Option<T>;
+    fn shift(&mut self) -> Option<T>;
     /// Prepend an element to the vector
     fn unshift(&mut self, x: T);
 
@@ -1578,14 +1576,11 @@ impl<T> OwnedVector<T> for ~[T] {
 
 
     #[inline]
-    fn shift(&mut self) -> T {
-        self.shift_opt().expect("shift: empty vector")
-    }
-
-    fn shift_opt(&mut self) -> Option<T> {
+    fn shift(&mut self) -> Option<T> {
         self.remove_opt(0)
     }
 
+    #[inline]
     fn unshift(&mut self, x: T) {
         self.insert(0, x)
     }
@@ -1645,7 +1640,7 @@ impl<T> OwnedVector<T> for ~[T] {
         if index < ln - 1 {
             self.swap(index, ln - 1);
         }
-        self.pop()
+        self.pop().unwrap()
     }
     fn truncate(&mut self, newlen: uint) {
         let oldlen = self.len();
@@ -3580,21 +3575,11 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn test_shift() {
         let mut x = ~[1, 2, 3];
-        assert_eq!(x.shift(), 1);
-        assert_eq!(&x, &~[2, 3]);
-        assert_eq!(x.shift(), 2);
-        assert_eq!(x.shift(), 3);
-        assert_eq!(x.len(), 0);
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn test_shift_opt() {
-        let mut x = ~[1, 2, 3];
-        assert_eq!(x.shift_opt(), Some(1));
+        assert_eq!(x.shift(), Some(1));
         assert_eq!(&x, &~[2, 3]);
-        assert_eq!(x.shift_opt(), Some(2));
-        assert_eq!(x.shift_opt(), Some(3));
-        assert_eq!(x.shift_opt(), None);
+        assert_eq!(x.shift(), Some(2));
+        assert_eq!(x.shift(), Some(3));
+        assert_eq!(x.shift(), None);
         assert_eq!(x.len(), 0);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/bench/core-std.rs b/src/test/bench/core-std.rs
index 4d5c4ec24f305..6ad2d8f8c8d66 100644
--- a/src/test/bench/core-std.rs
+++ b/src/test/bench/core-std.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ fn shift_push() {
     let mut v2 = ~[];
 
     while v1.len() > 0 {
-        v2.push(v1.shift());
+        v2.push(v1.shift().unwrap());
     }
 }