diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala
index 3029ca5df0..981d407472 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/util/ByteStringSpec.scala
@@ -285,7 +285,9 @@ class ByteStringSpec extends WordSpec with MustMatchers with Checkers {
       }
 
       "calling head" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.head } } }
+      "calling tail" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.tail } } }
       "calling last" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.last } } }
+      "calling init" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ a.isEmpty || likeVector(a) { _.init } } }
       "calling length" in { check { a: ByteString ⇒ likeVector(a) { _.length } } }
 
       "calling span" in { check { (a: ByteString, b: Byte) ⇒ likeVector(a)({ _.span(_ != b) match { case (a, b) ⇒ (a, b) } }) } }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala
index 7b727cd3a6..714075c6e8 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/util/ByteString.scala
@@ -257,10 +257,10 @@ sealed abstract class ByteString extends IndexedSeq[Byte] with IndexedSeqOptimiz
   // a parent trait.
   override def iterator: ByteIterator = throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Method iterator is not implemented in ByteString")
 
-  @inline final override def head: Byte = this(0)
-  @inline final override def tail: ByteString = this.drop(1)
-  @inline final override def last: Byte = this(this.length - 1)
-  override def init: ByteString = this.take(this.length - 1)
+  override def head: Byte = apply(0)
+  override def tail: ByteString = drop(1)
+  override def last: Byte = apply(length - 1)
+  override def init: ByteString = dropRight(1)
 
   override def slice(from: Int, until: Int): ByteString =
     if ((from == 0) && (until == length)) this