diff --git a/base/boot.jl b/base/boot.jl
index ef0bc5e5074cb..2fdfc2e8cacb9 100644
--- a/base/boot.jl
+++ b/base/boot.jl
@@ -432,11 +432,12 @@ Array{T}(A::AbstractArray{S,N}) where {T,N,S} = Array{T,N}(A)
 AbstractArray{T}(A::AbstractArray{S,N}) where {T,S,N} = AbstractArray{T,N}(A)
 
 # primitive Symbol constructors
-function Symbol(s::String)
+eval(Core, :(function Symbol(s::String)
+    $(Expr(:meta, :pure))
     return ccall(:jl_symbol_n, Ref{Symbol}, (Ptr{UInt8}, Int),
                  ccall(:jl_string_ptr, Ptr{UInt8}, (Any,), s),
                  sizeof(s))
-end
+end))
 function Symbol(a::Array{UInt8,1})
     return ccall(:jl_symbol_n, Ref{Symbol}, (Ptr{UInt8}, Int),
                  ccall(:jl_array_ptr, Ptr{UInt8}, (Any,), a),
diff --git a/base/compiler/utilities.jl b/base/compiler/utilities.jl
index b53030f71614c..dcb91ac1f952f 100644
--- a/base/compiler/utilities.jl
+++ b/base/compiler/utilities.jl
@@ -73,7 +73,9 @@ function quoted(@nospecialize(x))
 end
 
 function is_inlineable_constant(@nospecialize(x))
-    x isa Type && return true
+    if x isa Type || x isa Symbol
+        return true
+    end
     return isbits(x) && Core.sizeof(x) <= MAX_INLINE_CONST_SIZE
 end
 
diff --git a/base/strings/string.jl b/base/strings/string.jl
index a65e02f7653bc..56b603f0cce35 100644
--- a/base/strings/string.jl
+++ b/base/strings/string.jl
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Convert a string to a contiguous byte array representation encoded as UTF-8 byte
 This representation is often appropriate for passing strings to C.
 """
 String(s::AbstractString) = print_to_string(s)
-String(s::Symbol) = unsafe_string(unsafe_convert(Ptr{UInt8}, s))
+@pure String(s::Symbol) = unsafe_string(unsafe_convert(Ptr{UInt8}, s))
 
 unsafe_wrap(::Type{Vector{UInt8}}, s::String) = ccall(:jl_string_to_array, Ref{Vector{UInt8}}, (Any,), s)
 
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ String(s::CodeUnits{UInt8,String}) = s.s
 pointer(s::String) = unsafe_convert(Ptr{UInt8}, s)
 pointer(s::String, i::Integer) = pointer(s)+(i-1)
 
-ncodeunits(s::String) = Core.sizeof(s)
-sizeof(s::String) = Core.sizeof(s)
+@pure ncodeunits(s::String) = Core.sizeof(s)
+@pure sizeof(s::String) = Core.sizeof(s)
 codeunit(s::String) = UInt8
 
 @inline function codeunit(s::String, i::Integer)
diff --git a/test/compiler/inference.jl b/test/compiler/inference.jl
index a69d7c776608b..5f78cf7c97269 100644
--- a/test/compiler/inference.jl
+++ b/test/compiler/inference.jl
@@ -1711,20 +1711,19 @@ g26826(x) = getfield26826(x, :a, :b)
 # If this test is broken (especially if inference is getting a correct, but loose result,
 # like a Union) then it's potentially an indication that the optimizer isn't hitting the
 # InferenceResult cache properly for varargs methods.
-typed_code = Core.Compiler.code_typed(f26826, (Float64,))[1].first
-found_well_typed_getfield_call = false
-let i
+let ct = Core.Compiler.code_typed(f26826, (Float64,))[1]
+    typed_code, retty = ct.first, ct.second
+    found_poorly_typed_getfield_call = false
     for i = 1:length(typed_code.code)
         stmt = typed_code.code[i]
         rhs = Meta.isexpr(stmt, :(=)) ? stmt.args[2] : stmt
-        if Meta.isexpr(rhs, :call) && rhs.args[1] == GlobalRef(Base, :getfield) && typed_code.ssavaluetypes[i] === Float64
-            global found_well_typed_getfield_call = true
+        if Meta.isexpr(rhs, :call) && rhs.args[1] == GlobalRef(Base, :getfield) && typed_code.ssavaluetypes[i] !== Float64
+            found_poorly_typed_getfield_call = true
         end
     end
+    @test !found_poorly_typed_getfield_call && retty === Float64
 end
 
-@test found_well_typed_getfield_call
-
 # 27059 fix fieldtype vararg and union handling
 
 f27059(::Type{T}) where T = i -> fieldtype(T, i)
@@ -2482,3 +2481,7 @@ end
 @test Base.return_types(g33768, ()) == Any[Any]
 @test_throws ArgumentError h33768()
 @test Base.return_types(h33768, ()) == Any[Union{}]
+
+# constant prop of `Symbol("")`
+f_getf_computed_symbol(p) = getfield(p, Symbol("first"))
+@test Base.return_types(f_getf_computed_symbol, Tuple{Pair{Int8,String}}) == [Int8]