diff --git a/src/CHANGELOG b/src/CHANGELOG
index 194a959ad..b27de4364 100644
--- a/src/CHANGELOG
+++ b/src/CHANGELOG
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ ECL 0.9h
  - The block name of a function does not involve the the forms in the lambda
    list: i.e. (LAMBDA-EXT F (&aux (X (RETURN-FROM F 2)))) is no longer valid.
 
+ - Many of the STRING* functions (STRING=, STRING<, etc) were proclaimed to
+   work only on strings, instead of string-designators.
+
 * Design:
 
  - Simplified the structure of the frame stack, removing redundant fields.
diff --git a/src/cmp/sysfun.lsp b/src/cmp/sysfun.lsp
index 2cb1633c7..8f01977c0 100644
--- a/src/cmp/sysfun.lsp
+++ b/src/cmp/sysfun.lsp
@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@
     (put-sysprop name safety (cons inline-info (get-sysprop name safety))))
   nil)
 
+;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
+;; AUXILIARY TYPES
+;;
+
+(deftype string-designator () '(or string symbol character))
+
 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
 ;;;
 ;;; ALL FUNCTION DECLARATIONS AND INLINE FORMS
@@ -1113,7 +1119,7 @@ type_of(#0)==t_bitvector")
 (def-inline si:char-set :unsafe (t fixnum character) :char
  "(#0)->string.self[#1]= #2")
 
-(proclaim-function schar (string fixnum) character :no-side-effects t)
+(proclaim-function schar (simple-string fixnum) character :no-side-effects t)
 (def-inline schar :always (t t) t "elt(#0,fixint(#1))")
 (def-inline schar :always (t fixnum) t "elt(#0,#1)")
 (def-inline schar :unsafe (t t) t "CODE_CHAR((#0)->string.self[fix(#1)])")
@@ -1129,30 +1135,30 @@ type_of(#0)==t_bitvector")
 (def-inline si:schar-set :unsafe (t fixnum character) :char
  "(#0)->string.self[#1]= #2")
 
-(proclaim-function string= (string string *) t :predicate t :no-side-effects t)
+(proclaim-function string= (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t :no-side-effects t)
 (def-inline string= :always (string string) :bool "string_eq(#0,#1)")
 
-(proclaim-function string-equal (string string *) t :predicate t
+(proclaim-function string-equal (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t
  :no-side-effects t)
 (def-inline string-equal :always (string string) :bool "string_equal(#0,#1)")
 
-(proclaim-function string< (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string> (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string<= (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string>= (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string/= (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string-lessp (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string-greaterp (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string-not-lessp (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string-not-greaterp (string string *) t :predicate t)
-(proclaim-function string-not-equal (string string *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string< (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string> (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string<= (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string>= (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string/= (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string-lessp (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string-greaterp (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string-not-lessp (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string-not-greaterp (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
+(proclaim-function string-not-equal (string-designator string-designator *) t :predicate t)
 (proclaim-function make-string (fixnum *) string)
-(proclaim-function string-trim (t string) string)
-(proclaim-function string-left-trim (t string) string)
-(proclaim-function string-right-trim (t string) string)
-(proclaim-function string-upcase (string *) string)
-(proclaim-function string-downcase (string *) string)
-(proclaim-function string-capitalize (string *) string)
+(proclaim-function string-trim (t string-designator) string)
+(proclaim-function string-left-trim (t string-designator) string)
+(proclaim-function string-right-trim (t string-designator) string)
+(proclaim-function string-upcase (string-designator *) string)
+(proclaim-function string-downcase (string-designator *) string)
+(proclaim-function string-capitalize (string-designator *) string)
 (proclaim-function nstring-upcase (string *) string)
 (proclaim-function nstring-downcase (string *) string)
 (proclaim-function nstring-capitalize (string *) string)