diff --git a/hawk/lib/fnc.c b/hawk/lib/fnc.c
index 7c6ba4ec..dd1f8fbc 100644
--- a/hawk/lib/fnc.c
+++ b/hawk/lib/fnc.c
@@ -1863,16 +1863,14 @@ static HAWK_INLINE int __fnc_asort (hawk_rtx_t* rtx, const hawk_fnc_info_t* fi,
 
 	if (nargs >= 3)
 	{
-		hawk_val_t* a2;
-
-		a2 = hawk_rtx_getarg(rtx, 2);
-		if (HAWK_RTX_GETVALTYPE(rtx, a2) != HAWK_VAL_FUN)
+		fun = hawk_rtx_valtofun(rtx, hawk_rtx_getarg(rtx, 2));
+		if (HAWK_UNLIKELY(!fun))
 		{
-			hawk_rtx_seterrfmt (rtx, HAWK_NULL, HAWK_EINVAL, HAWK_T("comparator not a function"));
+			if (hawk_rtx_geterrnum(rtx) == HAWK_EINVAL)
+				hawk_rtx_seterrfmt (rtx, HAWK_NULL, HAWK_EINVAL, HAWK_T("comparator not a function"));
 			return -1;
 		}
 
-		fun = ((hawk_val_fun_t*)a2)->fun;
 		if (fun->nargs < 2) 
 		{
 			/* the comparison accepts less than 2 arguments */
diff --git a/hawk/lib/hawk.h b/hawk/lib/hawk.h
index 44be278b..bc596e10 100644
--- a/hawk/lib/hawk.h
+++ b/hawk/lib/hawk.h
@@ -2143,9 +2143,9 @@ HAWK_EXPORT hawk_fun_t* hawk_rtx_findfunwithucstr (
 );
 
 #if defined(HAWK_OOCH_IS_BCH)
-#	define hawk_rtx_findfun hawk_rtx_findfunwithbcstr
+#	define hawk_rtx_findfunwithoocstr hawk_rtx_findfunwithbcstr
 #else
-#	define hawk_rtx_findfun hawk_rtx_findfunwithucstr
+#	define hawk_rtx_findfunwithoocstr hawk_rtx_findfunwithucstr
 #endif
 
 /**
@@ -3245,13 +3245,18 @@ HAWK_EXPORT int hawk_rtx_valtoflt (
 	hawk_flt_t*       r
 );
 
+HAWK_EXPORT hawk_fun_t* hawk_rtx_valtofun (
+	hawk_rtx_t* rtx,
+	hawk_val_t* val
+);
+
 /**
  * The hawk_rtx_hashval() function hashes a simple value
  * to a positive integer. It returns -1 for a inhashable value.
  */
 HAWK_EXPORT hawk_int_t hawk_rtx_hashval (
-	hawk_rtx_t* rtx,
-	hawk_val_t* v
+	hawk_rtx_t*   rtx,
+	hawk_val_t*   v
 );
 
 /**
diff --git a/hawk/lib/val.c b/hawk/lib/val.c
index 4be42301..f04fe4c9 100644
--- a/hawk/lib/val.c
+++ b/hawk/lib/val.c
@@ -2275,6 +2275,42 @@ int hawk_rtx_valtoflt (hawk_rtx_t* rtx, const hawk_val_t* v, hawk_flt_t* r)
 	return n;
 }
 
+
+hawk_fun_t* hawk_rtx_valtofun (hawk_rtx_t* rtx, hawk_val_t* v)
+{
+	hawk_fun_t* fun;
+	hawk_val_type_t vtype;
+
+	vtype = HAWK_RTX_GETVALTYPE(rtx, v);
+
+	switch (vtype)
+	{
+		case HAWK_VAL_FUN:
+			fun = ((hawk_val_fun_t*)v)->fun;
+			break;
+
+		case HAWK_VAL_STR:
+			if (hawk_count_oocstr(((hawk_val_str_t*)v)->val.ptr) != ((hawk_val_str_t*)v)->val.len) goto error_inval;
+			fun = hawk_rtx_findfunwithoocstr(rtx, ((hawk_val_str_t*)v)->val.ptr);
+			if (!fun) return HAWK_NULL;
+			break;
+
+		case HAWK_VAL_MBS:
+			if (hawk_count_bcstr(((hawk_val_mbs_t*)v)->val.ptr) != ((hawk_val_mbs_t*)v)->val.len) goto error_inval;
+			fun = hawk_rtx_findfunwithbcstr(rtx, ((hawk_val_mbs_t*)v)->val.ptr);
+			if (!fun) return HAWK_NULL;
+			break;
+
+		default:
+		error_inval:
+			hawk_rtx_seterrnum (rtx, HAWK_NULL, HAWK_EINVAL);
+			return HAWK_NULL;
+	}
+
+	return fun;
+}
+
+
 /* ========================================================================== */
 
 static HAWK_INLINE hawk_uint_t hash (hawk_uint8_t* ptr, hawk_oow_t len)