diff --git a/src/include/Rinternals.h b/src/include/Rinternals.h
index 6a1244304fe..1a1281a2a64 100644
--- a/src/include/Rinternals.h
+++ b/src/include/Rinternals.h
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@ typedef unsigned int SEXPTYPE;
 #define EXTPTRSXP   22    /* external pointer */
 #define WEAKREFSXP  23    /* weak reference */
 #define RAWSXP      24    /* raw bytes */
-#define OBJSXP      25    /* Object, non-vector  */
-#define S4SXP       25    /* Same as OBJSXP, name retained for backwards compatability */
+#define OBJSXP      25    /* object, non-vector  */
+#define S4SXP       25    /* same as OBJSXP, retained for back compatability */
 
 /* used for detecting PROTECT issues in memory.c */
 #define NEWSXP      30    /* fresh node created in new page */
diff --git a/src/main/coerce.c b/src/main/coerce.c
index 4ee4b82234f..1cd901750e0 100644
--- a/src/main/coerce.c
+++ b/src/main/coerce.c
@@ -1955,11 +1955,10 @@ Rcomplex asComplex(SEXP x)
 attribute_hidden SEXP do_typeof(SEXP call, SEXP op, SEXP args, SEXP rho)
 {
     checkArity(op, args);
-    SEXP x = CAR(args);
-    if(TYPEOF(x) == OBJSXP && !IS_S4_OBJECT(x))
-	return mkString("object");
-    else
-	return type2rstr(TYPEOF(x));
+  if(TYPEOF(CAR(args)) == OBJSXP && !IS_S4_OBJECT(CAR(args)))
+    return mkString("object");
+  else
+    return type2rstr(TYPEOF(CAR(args)));
 }
 
 /* Define many of the <primitive> "is.xxx" functions :
diff --git a/src/main/memory.c b/src/main/memory.c
index bdcaec7c5a2..85d3cf8bad6 100644
--- a/src/main/memory.c
+++ b/src/main/memory.c
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ const char *sexptype2char(SEXPTYPE type) {
     case BCODESXP:	return "BCODESXP";
     case EXTPTRSXP:	return "EXTPTRSXP";
     case WEAKREFSXP:	return "WEAKREFSXP";
-    case OBJSXP:	return "OBJSXP";
+    case OBJSXP:	return "OBJSXP"; /* was S4SXP */
     case RAWSXP:	return "RAWSXP";
     case NEWSXP:	return "NEWSXP"; /* should never happen */
     case FREESXP:	return "FREESXP";
diff --git a/src/main/print.c b/src/main/print.c
index d442c20bc1c..6c00832775e 100644
--- a/src/main/print.c
+++ b/src/main/print.c
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  *  R : A Computer Language for Statistical Data Analysis
- *  Copyright (C) 2000-2022	The R Core Team.
+ *  Copyright (C) 2000-2023	The R Core Team.
  *  Copyright (C) 1995-1998	Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka.
  *
  *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -968,15 +968,15 @@ attribute_hidden void PrintValueRec(SEXP s, R_PrintData *data)
 	Rprintf("<weak reference>\n");
 	break;
     case OBJSXP:
-        if(IS_S4_OBJECT(s)) {
-            /*  we got here because no show method, usually no class.
-                Print the "slots" as attributes, since we don't know the class.
-            */
-	    Rprintf("<S4 Type Object>\n");
-	} else {
-	    /* OBJSXP type, S4 obj bit not set*/
-	    Rprintf("<object>\n");
-	}
+      if(IS_S4_OBJECT(s)) {
+	/*  we got here because no show method, usually no class.
+	    Print the "slots" as attributes, since we don't know the class.
+	*/
+	Rprintf("<S4 Type Object>\n");
+      } else {
+	  /* OBJSXP type, S4 obj bit not set*/
+	  Rprintf("<object>\n");
+      }
 	break;
     default:
 	UNIMPLEMENTED_TYPE("PrintValueRec", s);
diff --git a/src/main/util.c b/src/main/util.c
index 52f90342ea3..2896fdf54b1 100644
--- a/src/main/util.c
+++ b/src/main/util.c
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ TypeTable[] = {
     { "weakref",	WEAKREFSXP },
     { "raw",		RAWSXP },
     { "S4",		S4SXP },
+    { "object",		OBJSXP }, /* == S4SXP */
     /* aliases : */
     { "numeric",	REALSXP	   },
     { "name",		SYMSXP	   },
@@ -234,6 +235,9 @@ SEXPTYPE str2type(const char *s)
 	if (!strcmp(s, TypeTable[i].str))
 	    return (SEXPTYPE) TypeTable[i].type;
     }
+    if (!strcmp(s, "object"))
+	return (SEXPTYPE) OBJSXP;
+
     /* SEXPTYPE is an unsigned int, so the compiler warns us w/o the cast. */
     return (SEXPTYPE) -1;
 }