diff --git a/base/base.jl b/base/base.jl
index 9fa8d77cb4a150..65ea7d517bb8da 100644
--- a/base/base.jl
+++ b/base/base.jl
@@ -145,16 +145,6 @@ finalize(o::ANY) = ccall(:jl_finalize_th, Void, (Ptr{Void}, Any,),
 gc(full::Bool=true) = ccall(:jl_gc_collect, Void, (Cint,), full)
 gc_enable(on::Bool) = ccall(:jl_gc_enable, Cint, (Cint,), on)!=0
 
-# used by interpolating quote and some other things in the front end
-function vector_any(xs::ANY...)
-    n = length(xs)
-    a = Array{Any}(n)
-    @inbounds for i = 1:n
-        arrayset(a,xs[i],i)
-    end
-    a
-end
-
 immutable Nullable{T}
     isnull::Bool
     value::T
diff --git a/base/essentials.jl b/base/essentials.jl
index 75fa67251fa565..0363f7a525d1cd 100644
--- a/base/essentials.jl
+++ b/base/essentials.jl
@@ -217,3 +217,13 @@ const (:) = Colon()
 # For passing constants through type inference
 immutable Val{T}
 end
+
+# used by interpolating quote and some other things in the front end
+function vector_any(xs::ANY...)
+    n = length(xs)
+    a = Array{Any}(n)
+    @inbounds for i = 1:n
+        Core.arrayset(a,xs[i],i)
+    end
+    a
+end