diff --git a/lib/puppet/parser/ast/leaf.rb b/lib/puppet/parser/ast/leaf.rb
index 0f3f8d5fe..fde91f006 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/parser/ast/leaf.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/parser/ast/leaf.rb
@@ -1,76 +1,76 @@
 class Puppet::Parser::AST
   # The base class for all of the leaves of the parse trees.  These
   # basically just have types and values.  Both of these parameters
   # are simple values, not AST objects.
   class Leaf < AST
     attr_accessor :value, :type
 
     # Return our value.
     def evaluate(scope)
       @value
     end
 
     def match(value)
       @value == value
     end
 
     def to_s
       @value.to_s unless @value.nil?
     end
   end
 
 
   # Host names, either fully qualified or just the short name, or even a regex
   class HostName < AST::Leaf
     def initialize(hash)
       super
 
       # Note that this is an AST::Regex, not a Regexp
       unless @value.is_a?(Regex)
         @value = @value.to_s.downcase
         if @value =~ /[^-\w.]/
           raise Puppet::DevError, "'#{@value}' is not a valid hostname"
         end
       end
     end
 
     # implementing eql? and hash so that when an HostName is stored
     # in a hash it has the same hashing properties as the underlying value
     def eql?(value)
-      value = value.value if value.is_a?(HostName)
-      @value.eql?(value)
+      @value.eql?(value.is_a?(HostName) ? value.value : value)
     end
 
     def hash
       @value.hash
     end
   end
 
   class Regex < AST::Leaf
     def initialize(hash)
       super
+      # transform value from hash options unless it is already a regular expression
       @value = Regexp.new(@value) unless @value.is_a?(Regexp)
     end
 
     # we're returning self here to wrap the regexp and to be used in places
     # where a string would have been used, without modifying any client code.
     # For instance, in many places we have the following code snippet:
     #  val = @val.safeevaluate(@scope)
     #  if val.match(otherval)
     #      ...
     #  end
     # this way, we don't have to modify this test specifically for handling
     # regexes.
     def evaluate(scope)
       self
     end
 
     def match(value)
       @value.match(value)
     end
 
     def to_s
       "/#{@value.source}/"
     end
   end
 end