diff --git a/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php b/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php
index d25e10885..bb5ad0c4d 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ function twig_first(Twig_Environment $env, $item)
 {
     $elements = twig_slice($env, $item, 0, 1, false);
 
-    return is_string($elements) ? $elements[0] : current($elements);
+    return is_string($elements) ? $elements : current($elements);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ function twig_last(Twig_Environment $env, $item)
 {
     $elements = twig_slice($env, $item, -1, 1, false);
 
-    return is_string($elements) ? $elements[0] : current($elements);
+    return is_string($elements) ? $elements : current($elements);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/first.test b/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/first.test
index 853465b62..90f49271f 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/first.test
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/first.test
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 {{ {a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4}|first }}
 {{ '1234'|first }}
 {{ arr|first }}
+{{ 'Ä€é'|first }}
 --DATA--
 return array('arr' => new ArrayObject(array(1, 2, 3, 4)))
 --EXPECT--
@@ -12,3 +13,4 @@ return array('arr' => new ArrayObject(array(1, 2, 3, 4)))
 1
 1
 1
+Ä
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/last.test b/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/last.test
index ca3ac0cf8..018fdad89 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/last.test
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Fixtures/filters/last.test
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 {{ {a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4}|last }}
 {{ '1234'|last }}
 {{ arr|last }}
+{{ 'Ä€é'|last }}
 --DATA--
 return array('arr' => new ArrayObject(array(1, 2, 3, 4)))
 --EXPECT--
@@ -12,3 +13,4 @@ return array('arr' => new ArrayObject(array(1, 2, 3, 4)))
 4
 4
 4
+é