diff --git a/base/reflection.jl b/base/reflection.jl
index 03f3627bd6a10..35a469c320107 100644
--- a/base/reflection.jl
+++ b/base/reflection.jl
@@ -74,7 +74,31 @@ function_name(f::Function) = isgeneric(f) ? f.env.name : (:anonymous)
 
 code_lowered(f::Function,t::Tuple) = map(m->uncompressed_ast(m.func.code), methods(f,t))
 methods(f::ANY,t::ANY) = map(m->m[3], _methods(f,t,-1))::Array{Any,1}
-_methods(f::ANY,t::ANY,lim) = ccall(:jl_matching_methods, Any, (Any,Any,Int32), f, t, lim)
+_methods(f::ANY,t::ANY,lim) = _methods(f,{(t::Tuple)...},length(t::Tuple),lim,{})
+function _methods(f::ANY,t::Array,i,lim::Integer,matching::Array{Any,1})
+    if i == 0
+        new = ccall(:jl_matching_methods, Any, (Any,Any,Int32), f, tuple(t...), lim)
+        if new === false
+            return false
+        end
+        append!(matching, new::Array{Any,1})
+    else
+        ti = t[i]
+        if isa(ti, UnionType)
+            for ty in (ti::UnionType).types
+                t[i] = ty
+                if _methods(f,t,i-1,lim,matching) === false
+                    t[i] = ty
+                    return false
+                end
+            end
+            t[i] = ti
+        else
+            return _methods(f,t,i-1,lim,matching)
+        end
+    end
+    matching
+end
 
 function methods(f::Function)
     if !isgeneric(f)
diff --git a/test/core.jl b/test/core.jl
index 5eaf336aae8c7..e2b841d6d0bf5 100644
--- a/test/core.jl
+++ b/test/core.jl
@@ -916,3 +916,17 @@ end
 @test isa(foo4075(Foo4075(int64(1),2.0),:y), Float64)
 # very likely to segfault the second time if this is broken
 @test isa(foo4075(Foo4075(int64(1),2.0),:y), Float64)
+
+# issue #3167
+function foo(x)
+    ret=Array(typeof(x[1]), length(x))
+    for j = 1:length(x)
+        ret[j] = x[j]
+    end
+    return ret
+end
+x = Array(Union(Dict{Int64,String},Array{Int64,3},Number,String,Nothing), 3)
+x[1] = 1.0
+x[2] = 2.0
+x[3] = 3.0
+foo(x) == [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]