diff --git a/src/eval_context.rs b/src/eval_context.rs
index 0e63e033cfb78fd207d9a8d51638d7024304f5de..4d7caaf6ff3ccf1e92f04d5a5b3c356e6135ad42 100644
--- a/src/eval_context.rs
+++ b/src/eval_context.rs
@@ -1460,7 +1460,7 @@ fn unsize_into_ptr(
 
         match (&src_pointee_ty.sty, &dest_pointee_ty.sty) {
             (&ty::TyArray(_, length), &ty::TySlice(_)) => {
-                let ptr = src.read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = src.into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 // u64 cast is from usize to u64, which is always good
                 self.write_value(ptr.to_value_with_len(length as u64), dest, dest_ty)
             }
@@ -1474,7 +1474,7 @@ fn unsize_into_ptr(
                 let trait_ref = data.principal().unwrap().with_self_ty(self.tcx, src_pointee_ty);
                 let trait_ref = self.tcx.erase_regions(&trait_ref);
                 let vtable = self.get_vtable(src_pointee_ty, trait_ref)?;
-                let ptr = src.read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = src.into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 self.write_value(ptr.to_value_with_vtable(vtable), dest, dest_ty)
             },
 
diff --git a/src/lvalue.rs b/src/lvalue.rs
index 18ec7a77cb8ce90708cb1a09449e93ae9230adf7..bff6f9f955ade0cffc40f49a328a2c01de162c1b 100644
--- a/src/lvalue.rs
+++ b/src/lvalue.rs
@@ -391,14 +391,14 @@ fn eval_lvalue_projection(
 
                 match self.tcx.struct_tail(pointee_type).sty {
                     ty::TyDynamic(..) => {
-                        let (ptr, vtable) = val.expect_ptr_vtable_pair(&self.memory)?;
+                        let (ptr, vtable) = val.into_ptr_vtable_pair(&self.memory)?;
                         (ptr, LvalueExtra::Vtable(vtable), true)
                     },
                     ty::TyStr | ty::TySlice(_) => {
-                        let (ptr, len) = val.expect_slice(&self.memory)?;
+                        let (ptr, len) = val.into_slice(&self.memory)?;
                         (ptr, LvalueExtra::Length(len), true)
                     },
-                    _ => (val.read_ptr(&self.memory)?, LvalueExtra::None, true),
+                    _ => (val.into_ptr(&self.memory)?, LvalueExtra::None, true),
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/src/terminator/intrinsic.rs b/src/terminator/intrinsic.rs
index def080d5b206b199cff72e82f172bfd3e62e092a..7af678645550a8336ef111a4f814e7deb8b975b2 100644
--- a/src/terminator/intrinsic.rs
+++ b/src/terminator/intrinsic.rs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
 
             "arith_offset" => {
                 let offset = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[1], isize)?.to_i128()? as i64;
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let result_ptr = self.wrapping_pointer_offset(ptr, substs.type_at(0), offset)?;
                 self.write_ptr(dest, result_ptr, dest_ty)?;
             }
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
             "atomic_load_acq" |
             "volatile_load" => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 self.write_value(Value::ByRef(ptr), dest, ty)?;
             }
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
             "atomic_store_rel" |
             "volatile_store" => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let dest = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let dest = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 self.write_value_to_ptr(arg_vals[1], dest, ty)?;
             }
 
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
 
             _ if intrinsic_name.starts_with("atomic_xchg") => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let change = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[1], ty)?;
                 let old = self.read_value(ptr, ty)?;
                 let old = match old {
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
 
             _ if intrinsic_name.starts_with("atomic_cxchg") => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let expect_old = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[1], ty)?;
                 let change = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[2], ty)?;
                 let old = self.read_value(ptr, ty)?;
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
             "atomic_xadd" | "atomic_xadd_acq" | "atomic_xadd_rel" | "atomic_xadd_acqrel" | "atomic_xadd_relaxed" |
             "atomic_xsub" | "atomic_xsub_acq" | "atomic_xsub_rel" | "atomic_xsub_acqrel" | "atomic_xsub_relaxed" => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let change = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[1], ty)?;
                 let old = self.read_value(ptr, ty)?;
                 let old = match old {
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
                 let elem_size = self.type_size(elem_ty)?.expect("cannot copy unsized value");
                 if elem_size != 0 {
                     let elem_align = self.type_align(elem_ty)?;
-                    let src = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
-                    let dest = arg_vals[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                    let src = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                    let dest = arg_vals[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                     let count = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                     self.memory.copy(src, dest, count * elem_size, elem_align, intrinsic_name.ends_with("_nonoverlapping"))?;
                 }
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
 
             "discriminant_value" => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let adt_ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                let adt_ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                 let discr_val = self.read_discriminant_value(adt_ptr, ty)?;
                 self.write_primval(dest, PrimVal::Bytes(discr_val), dest_ty)?;
             }
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
 
             "move_val_init" => {
                 let ty = substs.type_at(0);
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 self.write_value_to_ptr(arg_vals[1], ptr, ty)?;
             }
 
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
 
             "offset" => {
                 let offset = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[1], isize)?.to_i128()? as i64;
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let result_ptr = self.pointer_offset(ptr, substs.type_at(0), offset)?;
                 self.write_ptr(dest, result_ptr, dest_ty)?;
             }
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ pub(super) fn call_intrinsic(
                 let ty_align = self.type_align(ty)?;
                 let val_byte = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[1], u8)?.to_u128()? as u8;
                 let size = self.type_size(ty)?.expect("write_bytes() type must be sized");
-                let ptr = arg_vals[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = arg_vals[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let count = self.value_to_primval(arg_vals[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 if count > 0 {
                     // TODO: Should we, at least, validate the alignment? (Also see memory::copy)
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ pub fn size_and_align_of_dst(
                     Ok((size, align.abi()))
                 }
                 ty::TyDynamic(..) => {
-                    let (_, vtable) = value.expect_ptr_vtable_pair(&self.memory)?;
+                    let (_, vtable) = value.into_ptr_vtable_pair(&self.memory)?;
                     // the second entry in the vtable is the dynamic size of the object.
                     self.read_size_and_align_from_vtable(vtable)
                 }
@@ -553,7 +553,7 @@ pub fn size_and_align_of_dst(
                 ty::TySlice(_) | ty::TyStr => {
                     let elem_ty = ty.sequence_element_type(self.tcx);
                     let elem_size = self.type_size(elem_ty)?.expect("slice element must be sized") as u64;
-                    let (_, len) = value.expect_slice(&self.memory)?;
+                    let (_, len) = value.into_slice(&self.memory)?;
                     let align = self.type_align(elem_ty)?;
                     Ok((len * elem_size, align as u64))
                 }
diff --git a/src/terminator/mod.rs b/src/terminator/mod.rs
index dc6610a2213b0bab513fcea3ec313b3e7afdb0a5..9a7619576c407361a8bd0424603b708f7ceedbdb 100644
--- a/src/terminator/mod.rs
+++ b/src/terminator/mod.rs
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ fn eval_fn_call(
             },
             ty::InstanceDef::Virtual(_, idx) => {
                 let ptr_size = self.memory.pointer_size();
-                let (_, vtable) = self.eval_operand(&arg_operands[0])?.expect_ptr_vtable_pair(&self.memory)?;
+                let (_, vtable) = self.eval_operand(&arg_operands[0])?.into_ptr_vtable_pair(&self.memory)?;
                 let fn_ptr = self.memory.read_ptr(vtable.offset(ptr_size * (idx as u64 + 3), self.memory.layout)?)?;
                 let instance = self.memory.get_fn(fn_ptr.to_ptr()?)?;
                 let mut arg_operands = arg_operands.to_vec();
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ fn call_missing_fn(
                 self.write_primval(dest, PrimVal::Ptr(ptr), dest_ty)?;
             }
             "alloc::heap::::__rust_dealloc" => {
-                let ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                let ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                 let old_size = self.value_to_primval(args[1], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 let align = self.value_to_primval(args[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 if old_size == 0 {
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ fn call_missing_fn(
                 self.memory.deallocate(ptr, Some((old_size, align)))?;
             }
             "alloc::heap::::__rust_realloc" => {
-                let ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                let ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                 let old_size = self.value_to_primval(args[1], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 let old_align = self.value_to_primval(args[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 let new_size = self.value_to_primval(args[3], usize)?.to_u64()?;
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             }
 
             "free" => {
-                let ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 if !ptr.is_null()? {
                     self.memory.deallocate(ptr.to_ptr()?, None)?;
                 }
@@ -674,8 +674,8 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             }
 
             "dlsym" => {
-                let _handle = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
-                let symbol = args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                let _handle = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let symbol = args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                 let symbol_name = self.memory.read_c_str(symbol)?;
                 let err = format!("bad c unicode symbol: {:?}", symbol_name);
                 let symbol_name = ::std::str::from_utf8(symbol_name).unwrap_or(&err);
@@ -686,8 +686,8 @@ fn call_c_abi(
                 // fn __rust_maybe_catch_panic(f: fn(*mut u8), data: *mut u8, data_ptr: *mut usize, vtable_ptr: *mut usize) -> u32
                 // We abort on panic, so not much is going on here, but we still have to call the closure
                 let u8_ptr_ty = self.tcx.mk_mut_ptr(self.tcx.types.u8);
-                let f = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
-                let data = args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let f = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                let data = args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let f_instance = self.memory.get_fn(f)?;
                 self.write_null(dest, dest_ty)?;
 
@@ -718,8 +718,8 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             }
 
             "memcmp" => {
-                let left = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
-                let right = args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let left = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let right = args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let n = self.value_to_primval(args[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
 
                 let result = {
@@ -738,7 +738,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             }
 
             "memrchr" => {
-                let ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let val = self.value_to_primval(args[1], usize)?.to_u64()? as u8;
                 let num = self.value_to_primval(args[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 if let Some(idx) = self.memory.read_bytes(ptr, num)?.iter().rev().position(|&c| c == val) {
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             }
 
             "memchr" => {
-                let ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let val = self.value_to_primval(args[1], usize)?.to_u64()? as u8;
                 let num = self.value_to_primval(args[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 if let Some(idx) = self.memory.read_bytes(ptr, num)?.iter().position(|&c| c == val) {
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
 
             "getenv" => {
                 let result = {
-                    let name_ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                    let name_ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                     let name = self.memory.read_c_str(name_ptr)?;
                     match self.env_vars.get(name) {
                         Some(&var) => PrimVal::Ptr(var),
@@ -776,7 +776,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             "unsetenv" => {
                 let mut success = None;
                 {
-                    let name_ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                    let name_ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                     if !name_ptr.is_null()? {
                         let name = self.memory.read_c_str(name_ptr.to_ptr()?)?;
                         if !name.is_empty() && !name.contains(&b'=') {
@@ -797,8 +797,8 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             "setenv" => {
                 let mut new = None;
                 {
-                    let name_ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
-                    let value_ptr = args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                    let name_ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                    let value_ptr = args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                     let value = self.memory.read_c_str(value_ptr)?;
                     if !name_ptr.is_null()? {
                         let name = self.memory.read_c_str(name_ptr.to_ptr()?)?;
@@ -823,7 +823,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
 
             "write" => {
                 let fd = self.value_to_primval(args[0], usize)?.to_u64()?;
-                let buf = args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let buf = args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 let n = self.value_to_primval(args[2], usize)?.to_u64()?;
                 trace!("Called write({:?}, {:?}, {:?})", fd, buf, n);
                 let result = if fd == 1 || fd == 2 { // stdout/stderr
@@ -840,7 +840,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             }
 
             "strlen" => {
-                let ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
+                let ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.to_ptr()?;
                 let n = self.memory.read_c_str(ptr)?.len();
                 self.write_primval(dest, PrimVal::Bytes(n as u128), dest_ty)?;
             }
@@ -863,10 +863,10 @@ fn call_c_abi(
 
             // Hook pthread calls that go to the thread-local storage memory subsystem
             "pthread_key_create" => {
-                let key_ptr = args[0].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let key_ptr = args[0].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
 
                 // Extract the function type out of the signature (that seems easier than constructing it ourselves...)
-                let dtor = match args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?.into_inner_primval() {
+                let dtor = match args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?.into_inner_primval() {
                     PrimVal::Ptr(dtor_ptr) => Some(self.memory.get_fn(dtor_ptr)?),
                     PrimVal::Bytes(0) => None,
                     PrimVal::Bytes(_) => return Err(EvalError::ReadBytesAsPointer),
@@ -908,7 +908,7 @@ fn call_c_abi(
             "pthread_setspecific" => {
                 // The conversion into TlsKey here is a little fishy, but should work as long as usize >= libc::pthread_key_t
                 let key = self.value_to_primval(args[0], usize)?.to_u64()? as TlsKey;
-                let new_ptr = args[1].read_ptr(&self.memory)?;
+                let new_ptr = args[1].into_ptr(&self.memory)?;
                 self.memory.store_tls(key, new_ptr)?;
                 
                 // Return success (0)
diff --git a/src/value.rs b/src/value.rs
index 4bda56a2877f999a1f0737507da611320328a081..0e544456524f74673fdfa63b79bbd5454c0abf66 100644
--- a/src/value.rs
+++ b/src/value.rs
@@ -158,7 +158,9 @@ pub enum PrimValKind {
 }
 
 impl<'a, 'tcx: 'a> Value {
-    pub(super) fn read_ptr(&self, mem: &Memory<'a, 'tcx>) -> EvalResult<'tcx, Pointer> {
+    /// Convert the value into a pointer (or a pointer-sized integer).  If the value is a ByRef,
+    /// this may have to perform a load.
+    pub(super) fn into_ptr(&self, mem: &Memory<'a, 'tcx>) -> EvalResult<'tcx, Pointer> {
         use self::Value::*;
         match *self {
             ByRef(ptr) => mem.read_ptr(ptr.to_ptr()?),
@@ -166,7 +168,7 @@ pub(super) fn read_ptr(&self, mem: &Memory<'a, 'tcx>) -> EvalResult<'tcx, Pointe
         }
     }
 
-    pub(super) fn expect_ptr_vtable_pair(
+    pub(super) fn into_ptr_vtable_pair(
         &self,
         mem: &Memory<'a, 'tcx>
     ) -> EvalResult<'tcx, (Pointer, MemoryPointer)> {
@@ -184,7 +186,7 @@ pub(super) fn expect_ptr_vtable_pair(
         }
     }
 
-    pub(super) fn expect_slice(&self, mem: &Memory<'a, 'tcx>) -> EvalResult<'tcx, (Pointer, u64)> {
+    pub(super) fn into_slice(&self, mem: &Memory<'a, 'tcx>) -> EvalResult<'tcx, (Pointer, u64)> {
         use self::Value::*;
         match *self {
             ByRef(ref_ptr) => {