diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 82b4eff6e926..fde3db15968c 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ use syntax::codemap::Span;
 pub enum EvalError<'tcx> {
     FunctionPointerTyMismatch(&'tcx BareFnTy<'tcx>, &'tcx BareFnTy<'tcx>),
     DanglingPointerDeref,
-    ZstAllocAccess,
+    InvalidMemoryAccess,
     InvalidFunctionPointer,
     InvalidBool,
     InvalidDiscriminant,
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ pub enum EvalError<'tcx> {
         allocation_size: usize,
     },
     ReadPointerAsBytes,
-    ReadBytesAsPointer,
     InvalidPointerMath,
     ReadUndefBytes,
     InvalidBoolOp(mir::BinOp),
@@ -54,8 +53,8 @@ impl<'tcx> Error for EvalError<'tcx> {
         match *self {
             EvalError::FunctionPointerTyMismatch(..) =>
                 "tried to call a function through a function pointer of a different type",
-            EvalError::ZstAllocAccess =>
-                "tried to access the ZST allocation",
+            EvalError::InvalidMemoryAccess =>
+                "tried to access memory through an invalid pointer",
             EvalError::DanglingPointerDeref =>
                 "dangling pointer was dereferenced",
             EvalError::InvalidFunctionPointer =>
@@ -68,8 +67,6 @@ impl<'tcx> Error for EvalError<'tcx> {
                 "pointer offset outside bounds of allocation",
             EvalError::ReadPointerAsBytes =>
                 "a raw memory access tried to access part of a pointer value as raw bytes",
-            EvalError::ReadBytesAsPointer =>
-                "attempted to interpret some raw bytes as a pointer address",
             EvalError::InvalidPointerMath =>
                 "attempted to do math or a comparison on pointers into different allocations",
             EvalError::ReadUndefBytes =>
diff --git a/src/interpreter/cast.rs b/src/interpreter/cast.rs
index 06cbf2495dac..6227999569cf 100644
--- a/src/interpreter/cast.rs
+++ b/src/interpreter/cast.rs
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> EvalContext<'a, 'tcx> {
             U16(u) => self.cast_const_int(u as u64, ty, false),
             U32(u) => self.cast_const_int(u as u64, ty, false),
             Char(c) => self.cast_const_int(c as u64, ty, false),
-            U64(u) |
-            IntegerPtr(u) => self.cast_const_int(u, ty, false),
+            U64(u) => self.cast_const_int(u, ty, false),
             FnPtr(ptr) |
             Ptr(ptr) => self.cast_ptr(ptr, ty),
         }
@@ -74,7 +73,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> EvalContext<'a, 'tcx> {
             ty::TyFloat(ast::FloatTy::F64) => Ok(F64(v as f64)),
             ty::TyFloat(ast::FloatTy::F32) if negative => Ok(F32(v as i64 as f32)),
             ty::TyFloat(ast::FloatTy::F32) => Ok(F32(v as f32)),
-            ty::TyRawPtr(_) => Ok(IntegerPtr(v)),
+            ty::TyRawPtr(_) => Ok(Ptr(Pointer::from_int(v as usize))),
             ty::TyChar if v as u8 as u64 == v => Ok(Char(v as u8 as char)),
             ty::TyChar => Err(EvalError::InvalidChar(v)),
             _ => Err(EvalError::Unimplemented(format!("int to {:?} cast", ty))),
diff --git a/src/interpreter/mod.rs b/src/interpreter/mod.rs
index b590905264e6..9de72dc6225b 100644
--- a/src/interpreter/mod.rs
+++ b/src/interpreter/mod.rs
@@ -1064,13 +1064,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> EvalContext<'a, 'tcx> {
             &ty::TyRef(_, ty::TypeAndMut { ty, .. }) |
             &ty::TyRawPtr(ty::TypeAndMut { ty, .. }) => {
                 if self.type_is_sized(ty) {
-                    match self.memory.read_ptr(ptr) {
-                        Ok(p) => PrimVal::Ptr(p),
-                        Err(EvalError::ReadBytesAsPointer) => {
-                            PrimVal::IntegerPtr(self.memory.read_usize(ptr)?)
-                        }
-                        Err(e) => return Err(e),
-                    }
+                    PrimVal::Ptr(self.memory.read_ptr(ptr)?)
                 } else {
                     bug!("primitive read of fat pointer type: {:?}", ty);
                 }
diff --git a/src/interpreter/terminator/intrinsics.rs b/src/interpreter/terminator/intrinsics.rs
index f7fa1588b561..38b62254130f 100644
--- a/src/interpreter/terminator/intrinsics.rs
+++ b/src/interpreter/terminator/intrinsics.rs
@@ -132,18 +132,9 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> EvalContext<'a, 'tcx> {
                 let ptr_arg = args_ptrs[0];
                 let offset = self.memory.read_isize(args_ptrs[1])?;
 
-                match self.memory.read_ptr(ptr_arg) {
-                    Ok(ptr) => {
-                        let result_ptr = ptr.offset(offset as isize * pointee_size);
-                        self.memory.write_ptr(dest, result_ptr)?;
-                    }
-                    Err(EvalError::ReadBytesAsPointer) => {
-                        let addr = self.memory.read_isize(ptr_arg)?;
-                        let result_addr = addr + offset * pointee_size as i64;
-                        self.memory.write_isize(dest, result_addr)?;
-                    }
-                    Err(e) => return Err(e),
-                }
+                let ptr = self.memory.read_ptr(ptr_arg)?;
+                let result_ptr = ptr.offset(offset as isize * pointee_size);
+                self.memory.write_ptr(dest, result_ptr)?;
             }
 
             "overflowing_sub" => {
diff --git a/src/memory.rs b/src/memory.rs
index 53c50e45e856..27e6ffff00eb 100644
--- a/src/memory.rs
+++ b/src/memory.rs
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ impl Pointer {
     pub fn points_to_zst(&self) -> bool {
         self.alloc_id == ZST_ALLOC_ID
     }
+    pub fn from_int(i: usize) -> Self {
+        Pointer {
+            alloc_id: ZST_ALLOC_ID,
+            offset: i,
+        }
+    }
     fn zst_ptr() -> Self {
         Pointer {
             alloc_id: ZST_ALLOC_ID,
@@ -279,7 +285,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> Memory<'a, 'tcx> {
             Some(alloc) => Ok(alloc),
             None => match self.functions.get(&id) {
                 Some(_) => Err(EvalError::DerefFunctionPointer),
-                None if id == ZST_ALLOC_ID => Err(EvalError::ZstAllocAccess),
+                None if id == ZST_ALLOC_ID => Err(EvalError::InvalidMemoryAccess),
                 None => Err(EvalError::DanglingPointerDeref),
             }
         }
@@ -291,7 +297,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> Memory<'a, 'tcx> {
             Some(alloc) => Ok(alloc),
             None => match self.functions.get(&id) {
                 Some(_) => Err(EvalError::DerefFunctionPointer),
-                None if id == ZST_ALLOC_ID => Err(EvalError::ZstAllocAccess),
+                None if id == ZST_ALLOC_ID => Err(EvalError::InvalidMemoryAccess),
                 None => Err(EvalError::DanglingPointerDeref),
             }
         }
@@ -511,7 +517,7 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> Memory<'a, 'tcx> {
         let alloc = self.get(ptr.alloc_id)?;
         match alloc.relocations.get(&ptr.offset) {
             Some(&alloc_id) => Ok(Pointer { alloc_id: alloc_id, offset: offset }),
-            None => Err(EvalError::ReadBytesAsPointer),
+            None => Ok(Pointer::from_int(offset)),
         }
     }
 
@@ -522,7 +528,6 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> Memory<'a, 'tcx> {
     }
 
     pub fn write_primval(&mut self, ptr: Pointer, val: PrimVal) -> EvalResult<'tcx, ()> {
-        let pointer_size = self.pointer_size();
         match val {
             PrimVal::Bool(b) => self.write_bool(ptr, b),
             PrimVal::I8(n)   => self.write_int(ptr, n as i64, 1),
@@ -534,7 +539,6 @@ impl<'a, 'tcx> Memory<'a, 'tcx> {
             PrimVal::U32(n)  => self.write_uint(ptr, n as u64, 4),
             PrimVal::U64(n)  => self.write_uint(ptr, n as u64, 8),
             PrimVal::Char(c) => self.write_uint(ptr, c as u64, 4),
-            PrimVal::IntegerPtr(n) => self.write_uint(ptr, n as u64, pointer_size),
             PrimVal::F32(f) => self.write_f32(ptr, f),
             PrimVal::F64(f) => self.write_f64(ptr, f),
             PrimVal::FnPtr(p) |
diff --git a/src/primval.rs b/src/primval.rs
index 50ef05a245df..717ad99dbcd5 100644
--- a/src/primval.rs
+++ b/src/primval.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ pub enum PrimVal {
 
     Ptr(Pointer),
     FnPtr(Pointer),
-    IntegerPtr(u64),
     Char(char),
 
     F32(f32), F64(f64),
@@ -209,14 +208,8 @@ pub fn binary_op<'tcx>(bin_op: mir::BinOp, left: PrimVal, right: PrimVal) -> Eva
             })
         }
 
-        (IntegerPtr(l), IntegerPtr(r)) => int_binops!(IntegerPtr, l, r),
-
-        (Ptr(_), IntegerPtr(_)) |
-        (IntegerPtr(_), Ptr(_)) |
         (FnPtr(_), Ptr(_)) |
-        (Ptr(_), FnPtr(_)) |
-        (FnPtr(_), IntegerPtr(_)) |
-        (IntegerPtr(_), FnPtr(_)) =>
+        (Ptr(_), FnPtr(_)) =>
             unrelated_ptr_ops(bin_op)?,
 
         (FnPtr(l_ptr), FnPtr(r_ptr)) => match bin_op {
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/null_pointer_deref.rs b/tests/compile-fail/null_pointer_deref.rs
index 3d1afe921561..fcf34ed44c93 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/null_pointer_deref.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/null_pointer_deref.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 fn main() {
-    let x: i32 = unsafe { *std::ptr::null() }; //~ ERROR: attempted to interpret some raw bytes as a pointer address
+    let x: i32 = unsafe { *std::ptr::null() }; //~ ERROR: tried to access memory through an invalid pointer
     panic!("this should never print: {}", x);
 }
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/wild_pointer_deref.rs b/tests/compile-fail/wild_pointer_deref.rs
index 1f472489b4fc..937546fdc350 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/wild_pointer_deref.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/wild_pointer_deref.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 fn main() {
     let p = 42 as *const i32;
-    let x = unsafe { *p }; //~ ERROR: attempted to interpret some raw bytes as a pointer address
+    let x = unsafe { *p }; //~ ERROR: tried to access memory through an invalid pointer
     panic!("this should never print: {}", x);
 }
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/zst.rs b/tests/compile-fail/zst.rs
index a244befed018..970cc9abc9da 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/zst.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/zst.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 fn main() {
     let x = &() as *const () as *const i32;
-    let _ = unsafe { *x }; //~ ERROR: tried to access the ZST allocation
+    let _ = unsafe { *x }; //~ ERROR: tried to access memory through an invalid pointer
 }
diff --git a/tests/run-pass/zst.rs b/tests/run-pass/zst.rs
index 4ebb2001e720..78d3025587f0 100644
--- a/tests/run-pass/zst.rs
+++ b/tests/run-pass/zst.rs
@@ -21,4 +21,6 @@ fn main() {
     assert_eq!(use_zst(), A);
     assert_eq!(&A as *const A as *const (), &() as *const _);
     assert_eq!(&A as *const A, &A as *const A);
+    let x = 42 as *mut ();
+    unsafe { *x = (); }
 }