diff --git a/src/Stringy.php b/src/Stringy.php
index 340517c..364c8eb 100644
--- a/src/Stringy.php
+++ b/src/Stringy.php
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ class Stringy implements \Countable, \IteratorAggregate, \ArrayAccess
             $startOfStr = mb_strtolower($startOfStr, $this->encoding);
         }
 
-        return $substring === $startOfStr;
+        return (string) $substring === $startOfStr;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ class Stringy implements \Countable, \IteratorAggregate, \ArrayAccess
             $endOfStr = mb_strtolower($endOfStr, $this->encoding);
         }
 
-        return $substring === $endOfStr;
+        return (string) $substring === $endOfStr;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/CommonTest.php b/tests/CommonTest.php
index 0f5ca0b..b25b1a7 100644
--- a/tests/CommonTest.php
+++ b/tests/CommonTest.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+use Stringy\Stringy;
+
 abstract class CommonTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 {
     /**
@@ -756,6 +758,8 @@ abstract class CommonTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
             array('bar', 'foo bar', 'foo '),
             array('foo bar', 'foo bar', 'oo'),
             array('foo bar', 'foo bar', 'oo bar'),
+            array('oo bar', 'foo bar', Stringy::create('foo bar')->first(1), 'UTF-8'),
+            array('oo bar', 'foo bar', Stringy::create('foo bar')->at(0), 'UTF-8'),
             array('fòô bàř', 'fòô bàř', '', 'UTF-8'),
             array('òô bàř', 'fòô bàř', 'f', 'UTF-8'),
             array('bàř', 'fòô bàř', 'fòô ', 'UTF-8'),
@@ -772,6 +776,8 @@ abstract class CommonTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
             array('foo', 'foo bar', ' bar'),
             array('foo bar', 'foo bar', 'ba'),
             array('foo bar', 'foo bar', 'foo ba'),
+            array('foo ba', 'foo bar', Stringy::create('foo bar')->last(1), 'UTF-8'),
+            array('foo ba', 'foo bar', Stringy::create('foo bar')->at(6), 'UTF-8'),
             array('fòô bàř', 'fòô bàř', '', 'UTF-8'),
             array('fòô bà', 'fòô bàř', 'ř', 'UTF-8'),
             array('fòô', 'fòô bàř', ' bàř', 'UTF-8'),