diff --git a/src/pkg/old/regexp/regexp.go b/src/pkg/old/regexp/regexp.go
index e8d4c087cf8..f18d9c8f592 100644
--- a/src/pkg/old/regexp/regexp.go
+++ b/src/pkg/old/regexp/regexp.go
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ type instr struct {
 	index int    // used only in debugging; could be eliminated
 	next  *instr // the instruction to execute after this one
 	// Special fields valid only for some items.
-	char   int        // iChar
+	char   rune       // iChar
 	braNum int        // iBra, iEbra
 	cclass *charClass // iCharClass
 	left   *instr     // iAlt, other branch
@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ type Regexp struct {
 type charClass struct {
 	negate bool // is character class negated? ([^a-z])
 	// slice of int, stored pairwise: [a-z] is (a,z); x is (x,x):
-	ranges     []int
-	cmin, cmax int
+	ranges     []rune
+	cmin, cmax rune
 }
 
 func (cclass *charClass) print() {
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ func (cclass *charClass) print() {
 	}
 }
 
-func (cclass *charClass) addRange(a, b int) {
+func (cclass *charClass) addRange(a, b rune) {
 	// range is a through b inclusive
 	cclass.ranges = append(cclass.ranges, a, b)
 	if a < cclass.cmin {
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ func (cclass *charClass) addRange(a, b int) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (cclass *charClass) matches(c int) bool {
+func (cclass *charClass) matches(c rune) bool {
 	if c < cclass.cmin || c > cclass.cmax {
 		return cclass.negate
 	}
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ func (cclass *charClass) matches(c int) bool {
 func newCharClass() *instr {
 	i := &instr{kind: iCharClass}
 	i.cclass = new(charClass)
-	i.cclass.ranges = make([]int, 0, 4)
+	i.cclass.ranges = make([]rune, 0, 4)
 	i.cclass.cmin = 0x10FFFF + 1 // MaxRune + 1
 	i.cclass.cmax = -1
 	return i
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ type parser struct {
 	re    *Regexp
 	nlpar int // number of unclosed lpars
 	pos   int
-	ch    int
+	ch    rune
 }
 
 func (p *parser) error(err Error) {
@@ -244,9 +244,9 @@ func (p *parser) error(err Error) {
 
 const endOfText = -1
 
-func (p *parser) c() int { return p.ch }
+func (p *parser) c() rune { return p.ch }
 
-func (p *parser) nextc() int {
+func (p *parser) nextc() rune {
 	if p.pos >= len(p.re.expr) {
 		p.ch = endOfText
 	} else {
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ func newParser(re *Regexp) *parser {
 	return p
 }
 
-func special(c int) bool {
+func special(c rune) bool {
 	for _, r := range `\.+*?()|[]^$` {
 		if c == r {
 			return true
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func special(c int) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-func ispunct(c int) bool {
+func ispunct(c rune) bool {
 	for _, r := range "!\"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\\]^_`{|}~" {
 		if c == r {
 			return true
@@ -285,16 +285,16 @@ func ispunct(c int) bool {
 var escapes = []byte("abfnrtv")
 var escaped = []byte("\a\b\f\n\r\t\v")
 
-func escape(c int) int {
+func escape(c rune) int {
 	for i, b := range escapes {
-		if int(b) == c {
+		if rune(b) == c {
 			return i
 		}
 	}
 	return -1
 }
 
-func (p *parser) checkBackslash() int {
+func (p *parser) checkBackslash() rune {
 	c := p.c()
 	if c == '\\' {
 		c = p.nextc()
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ func (p *parser) checkBackslash() int {
 		case ispunct(c):
 			// c is as delivered
 		case escape(c) >= 0:
-			c = int(escaped[escape(c)])
+			c = rune(escaped[escape(c)])
 		default:
 			p.error(ErrBadBackslash)
 		}
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ func (p *parser) charClass() *instr {
 		cc.negate = true
 		p.nextc()
 	}
-	left := -1
+	left := rune(-1)
 	for {
 		switch c := p.c(); c {
 		case ']', endOfText:
@@ -751,8 +751,8 @@ func (a *matchArena) addState(s []state, inst *instr, prefixed bool, match *matc
 // input abstracts different representations of the input text. It provides
 // one-character lookahead.
 type input interface {
-	step(pos int) (rune int, width int) // advance one rune
-	canCheckPrefix() bool               // can we look ahead without losing info?
+	step(pos int) (r rune, width int) // advance one rune
+	canCheckPrefix() bool             // can we look ahead without losing info?
 	hasPrefix(re *Regexp) bool
 	index(re *Regexp, pos int) int
 }
@@ -766,7 +766,7 @@ func newInputString(str string) *inputString {
 	return &inputString{str: str}
 }
 
-func (i *inputString) step(pos int) (int, int) {
+func (i *inputString) step(pos int) (rune, int) {
 	if pos < len(i.str) {
 		return utf8.DecodeRuneInString(i.str[pos:len(i.str)])
 	}
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ func newInputBytes(str []byte) *inputBytes {
 	return &inputBytes{str: str}
 }
 
-func (i *inputBytes) step(pos int) (int, int) {
+func (i *inputBytes) step(pos int) (rune, int) {
 	if pos < len(i.str) {
 		return utf8.DecodeRune(i.str[pos:len(i.str)])
 	}
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ func newInputReader(r io.RuneReader) *inputReader {
 	return &inputReader{r: r}
 }
 
-func (i *inputReader) step(pos int) (int, int) {
+func (i *inputReader) step(pos int) (rune, int) {
 	if !i.atEOT && pos != i.pos {
 		return endOfText, 0
 
@@ -886,7 +886,7 @@ func (re *Regexp) doExecute(i input, pos int) []int {
 		atBOT: pos == 0,
 		atEOT: nextChar == endOfText,
 	}
-	for c, startPos := 0, pos; c != endOfText; {
+	for c, startPos := rune(0), pos; c != endOfText; {
 		if !found && (pos == startPos || !anchored) {
 			// prime the pump if we haven't seen a match yet
 			match := arena.noMatch()
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ func (re *Regexp) doExecute(i input, pos int) []int {
 // of the regular expression re.  It returns the boolean true if the
 // literal string comprises the entire regular expression.
 func (re *Regexp) LiteralPrefix() (prefix string, complete bool) {
-	c := make([]int, len(re.inst)-2) // minus start and end.
+	c := make([]rune, len(re.inst)-2) // minus start and end.
 	// First instruction is start; skip that.
 	i := 0
 	for inst := re.inst[0].next; inst.kind != iEnd; inst = inst.next {
@@ -1141,7 +1141,7 @@ func QuoteMeta(s string) string {
 	// A byte loop is correct because all metacharacters are ASCII.
 	j := 0
 	for i := 0; i < len(s); i++ {
-		if special(int(s[i])) {
+		if special(rune(s[i])) {
 			b[j] = '\\'
 			j++
 		}
diff --git a/src/pkg/old/template/parse.go b/src/pkg/old/template/parse.go
index dedf9ad8e9f..9f8d1eba338 100644
--- a/src/pkg/old/template/parse.go
+++ b/src/pkg/old/template/parse.go
@@ -146,8 +146,8 @@ func (t *Template) parseError(err string, args ...interface{}) {
 
 // Is this an exported - upper case - name?
 func isExported(name string) bool {
-	rune, _ := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(name)
-	return unicode.IsUpper(rune)
+	r, _ := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(name)
+	return unicode.IsUpper(r)
 }
 
 // -- Lexical analysis
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ func (t *Template) newVariable(words []string) *variableElement {
 		case '"', '`', '\'':
 			v, err := strconv.Unquote(word)
 			if err == nil && word[0] == '\'' {
-				args[i] = []int(v)[0]
+				args[i], _ = utf8.DecodeRuneInString(v)
 			} else {
 				args[i], lerr = v, err
 			}
diff --git a/src/pkg/template/exec_test.go b/src/pkg/template/exec_test.go
index 50b0ad2b75f..6c19f116b81 100644
--- a/src/pkg/template/exec_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/template/exec_test.go
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ func TestTree(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal("exec error:", err)
 	}
-	stripSpace := func(r int) int {
+	stripSpace := func(r rune) rune {
 		if r == '\t' || r == '\n' {
 			return -1
 		}
diff --git a/src/pkg/template/funcs.go b/src/pkg/template/funcs.go
index feb1fd82c72..938559eec96 100644
--- a/src/pkg/template/funcs.go
+++ b/src/pkg/template/funcs.go
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ func JSEscape(w io.Writer, b []byte) {
 	for i := 0; i < len(b); i++ {
 		c := b[i]
 
-		if !jsIsSpecial(int(c)) {
+		if !jsIsSpecial(rune(c)) {
 			// fast path: nothing to do
 			continue
 		}
@@ -307,12 +307,12 @@ func JSEscape(w io.Writer, b []byte) {
 			}
 		} else {
 			// Unicode rune.
-			rune, size := utf8.DecodeRune(b[i:])
-			if unicode.IsPrint(rune) {
+			r, size := utf8.DecodeRune(b[i:])
+			if unicode.IsPrint(r) {
 				w.Write(b[i : i+size])
 			} else {
 				// TODO(dsymonds): Do this without fmt?
-				fmt.Fprintf(w, "\\u%04X", rune)
+				fmt.Fprintf(w, "\\u%04X", r)
 			}
 			i += size - 1
 		}
@@ -332,12 +332,12 @@ func JSEscapeString(s string) string {
 	return b.String()
 }
 
-func jsIsSpecial(rune int) bool {
-	switch rune {
+func jsIsSpecial(r rune) bool {
+	switch r {
 	case '\\', '\'', '"', '<', '>':
 		return true
 	}
-	return rune < ' ' || utf8.RuneSelf <= rune
+	return r < ' ' || utf8.RuneSelf <= r
 }
 
 // JSEscaper returns the escaped JavaScript equivalent of the textual
diff --git a/src/pkg/template/parse/lex.go b/src/pkg/template/parse/lex.go
index 16ff590d3b4..04c105d1610 100644
--- a/src/pkg/template/parse/lex.go
+++ b/src/pkg/template/parse/lex.go
@@ -131,21 +131,21 @@ type lexer struct {
 }
 
 // next returns the next rune in the input.
-func (l *lexer) next() (rune int) {
+func (l *lexer) next() (r rune) {
 	if l.pos >= len(l.input) {
 		l.width = 0
 		return eof
 	}
-	rune, l.width = utf8.DecodeRuneInString(l.input[l.pos:])
+	r, l.width = utf8.DecodeRuneInString(l.input[l.pos:])
 	l.pos += l.width
-	return rune
+	return r
 }
 
 // peek returns but does not consume the next rune in the input.
-func (l *lexer) peek() int {
-	rune := l.next()
+func (l *lexer) peek() rune {
+	r := l.next()
 	l.backup()
-	return rune
+	return r
 }
 
 // backup steps back one rune. Can only be called once per call of next.
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ Loop:
 }
 
 // isSpace reports whether r is a space character.
-func isSpace(r int) bool {
+func isSpace(r rune) bool {
 	switch r {
 	case ' ', '\t', '\n', '\r':
 		return true
@@ -477,6 +477,6 @@ func isSpace(r int) bool {
 }
 
 // isAlphaNumeric reports whether r is an alphabetic, digit, or underscore.
-func isAlphaNumeric(r int) bool {
+func isAlphaNumeric(r rune) bool {
 	return r == '_' || unicode.IsLetter(r) || unicode.IsDigit(r)
 }