diff -r a8a238cf59c7 Objects/stringlib/eq.h
--- a/Objects/stringlib/eq.h	Wed Apr 03 13:20:02 2013 -0400
+++ b/Objects/stringlib/eq.h	Wed Apr 03 23:05:20 2013 +0200
@@ -4,31 +4,71 @@
  * unicode_eq() is called when the hash of two unicode objects is equal.
  */
 Py_LOCAL_INLINE(int)
-unicode_eq(PyObject *aa, PyObject *bb)
+unicode_eq(PyObject *a, PyObject *b)
 {
-    register PyUnicodeObject *a = (PyUnicodeObject *)aa;
-    register PyUnicodeObject *b = (PyUnicodeObject *)bb;
+    Py_ssize_t len;
+    int kind;
+    Py_UCS1 *data1, *data2;
 
     if (PyUnicode_READY(a) == -1 || PyUnicode_READY(b) == -1) {
         assert(0 && "unicode_eq ready fail");
         return 0;
     }
 
-    if (PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(a) != PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(b))
+    /* a string is equal to itself */
+    if (a == b)
+        return 1;
+
+    len = PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(a);
+    if (len != PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(b))
         return 0;
-    if (PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(a) == 0)
+    if (len == 0)
         return 1;
-    if (PyUnicode_KIND(a) != PyUnicode_KIND(b))
+
+    kind = PyUnicode_KIND(a);
+    if (kind != PyUnicode_KIND(b))
         return 0;
-    /* Just comparing the first byte is enough to see if a and b differ.
-     * If they are 2 byte or 4 byte character most differences will happen in
-     * the lower bytes anyways.
-     */
-    if (PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(a)[0] != PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(b)[0])
-        return 0;
-    if (PyUnicode_KIND(a) == PyUnicode_1BYTE_KIND &&
-        PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(a) == 1)
+
+    data1 = PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(a);
+    data2 = PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(b);
+    switch(kind)
+    {
+    default:
+        assert(0 && "invalid kind");
+    case PyUnicode_1BYTE_KIND:
+    {
+        if (data1[0] != data2[0])
+            return 0;
+        if (data1[len-1] != data2[len-1])
+            return 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    case PyUnicode_2BYTE_KIND:
+    {
+        Py_UCS2 *ucs2a, *ucs2b;
+        ucs2a = (Py_UCS2 *)data1;
+        ucs2b = (Py_UCS2 *)data2;
+
+        if (ucs2a[0] != ucs2b[0])
+            return 0;
+        if (ucs2a[len-1] != ucs2b[len-1])
+            return 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    case PyUnicode_4BYTE_KIND:
+    {
+        Py_UCS4 *ucs4a, *ucs4b;
+        ucs4a = (Py_UCS4 *)data1;
+        ucs4b = (Py_UCS4 *)data2;
+
+        if (ucs4a[0] != ucs4b[0])
+            return 0;
+        if (ucs4a[len-1] != ucs4b[len-1])
+            return 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    }
+    if (len <= 2)
         return 1;
-    return memcmp(PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(a), PyUnicode_1BYTE_DATA(b),
-                  PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(a) * PyUnicode_KIND(a)) == 0;
+    return memcmp(data1 + kind, data2 + kind, (len - 2) * kind) == 0;
 }
diff -r a8a238cf59c7 Objects/unicodeobject.c
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c	Wed Apr 03 13:20:02 2013 -0400
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c	Wed Apr 03 23:05:20 2013 +0200
@@ -613,6 +613,7 @@ make_bloom_mask(int kind, void* ptr, Py_
 #include "stringlib/fastsearch.h"
 #include "stringlib/count.h"
 #include "stringlib/find.h"
+#include "stringlib/eq.h"
 #include "stringlib/undef.h"
 
 /* --- Unicode Object ----------------------------------------------------- */
@@ -10285,32 +10286,6 @@ unicode_compare(PyObject *str1, PyObject
         return 1;
 }
 
-static int
-unicode_compare_eq(PyObject *str1, PyObject *str2)
-{
-    int kind;
-    void *data1, *data2;
-    Py_ssize_t len;
-    int cmp;
-
-    /* a string is equal to itself */
-    if (str1 == str2)
-        return 1;
-
-    len = PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(str1);
-    if (PyUnicode_GET_LENGTH(str2) != len)
-        return 0;
-    kind = PyUnicode_KIND(str1);
-    if (PyUnicode_KIND(str2) != kind)
-        return 0;
-    data1 = PyUnicode_DATA(str1);
-    data2 = PyUnicode_DATA(str2);
-
-    cmp = memcmp(data1, data2, len * kind);
-    return (cmp == 0);
-}
-
-
 int
 PyUnicode_Compare(PyObject *left, PyObject *right)
 {
@@ -10371,7 +10346,7 @@ PyUnicode_RichCompare(PyObject *left, Py
         return NULL;
 
     if (op == Py_EQ || op == Py_NE) {
-        result = unicode_compare_eq(left, right);
+        result = unicode_eq(left, right);
         if (op == Py_EQ)
             v = TEST_COND(result);
         else