diff --git a/src/hb-algs.hh b/src/hb-algs.hh
index 96cc1573e..66433a2b7 100644
--- a/src/hb-algs.hh
+++ b/src/hb-algs.hh
@@ -900,10 +900,10 @@ hb_codepoint_parse (const char *s, unsigned int len, int base, hb_codepoint_t *o
   unsigned int v;
   const char *p = s;
   const char *end = p + len;
-  if (!hb_parse_uint (&p, p + len, &v, base))
-    return false;
+  if (unlikely (!hb_parse_uint (&p, end, &v, base))) return false;
 
-  if (end != p && *p) return false;
+  /* Pain because we don't know whether s is nul-terminated. */
+  if (unlikely (p != end && *p)) return false;
 
   *out = v;
   return true;
diff --git a/src/hb-buffer-serialize.cc b/src/hb-buffer-serialize.cc
index a6e3bb81a..5f65d314f 100644
--- a/src/hb-buffer-serialize.cc
+++ b/src/hb-buffer-serialize.cc
@@ -384,12 +384,10 @@ parse_int (const char *pp, const char *end, int32_t *pv)
 {
   int v;
   const char *p = pp;
-  if (!hb_parse_int (&p, end, &v))
-    return false;
+  if (unlikely (!hb_parse_int (&p, end, &v))) return false;
 
   /* Check if parser consumed all of the buffer */
-  if (p != end)
-    return false;
+  if (unlikely (p != end)) return false;
 
   *pv = v;
   return true;
diff --git a/src/hb-common.cc b/src/hb-common.cc
index 690c96f11..6ad834635 100644
--- a/src/hb-common.cc
+++ b/src/hb-common.cc
@@ -721,11 +721,10 @@ parse_char (const char **pp, const char *end, char c)
 static bool
 parse_uint (const char **pp, const char *end, unsigned int *pv)
 {
-  /* Intentionally use strtol inside instead of strtoul, such that
-   * -1 turns into "big number"... */
+  /* Intentionally use hb_parse_int inside instead of hb_parse_uint,
+   * such that -1 turns into "big number"... */
   int v;
-  if (!hb_parse_int (pp, end, &v))
-    return false;
+  if (unlikely (!hb_parse_int (pp, end, &v))) return false;
 
   *pv = v;
   return true;
@@ -734,11 +733,10 @@ parse_uint (const char **pp, const char *end, unsigned int *pv)
 static bool
 parse_uint32 (const char **pp, const char *end, uint32_t *pv)
 {
-  /* Intentionally use strtol inside instead of strtoul, such that
-   * -1 turns into "big number"... */
+  /* Intentionally use hb_parse_int inside instead of hb_parse_uint,
+   * such that -1 turns into "big number"... */
   int v;
-  if (!hb_parse_int (pp, end, &v))
-    return false;
+  if (unlikely (!hb_parse_int (pp, end, &v))) return false;
 
   *pv = v;
   return true;
diff --git a/src/hb-number.cc b/src/hb-number.cc
index 4a86ddddd..d5acd2b11 100644
--- a/src/hb-number.cc
+++ b/src/hb-number.cc
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 #endif
 
 template<typename T, typename Func>
-static inline bool
+static bool
 _parse_number (const char **pp, const char *end, T *pv, Func f)
 {
   char buf[32];
@@ -42,13 +42,11 @@ _parse_number (const char **pp, const char *end, T *pv, Func f)
 
   char *p = buf;
   char *pend = p;
-  T v;
 
   errno = 0;
-  v = f (p, &pend);
+  *pv = f (p, &pend);
   if (unlikely (errno || p == pend)) return false;
 
-  *pv = v;
   *pp += pend - p;
   return true;
 }