diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index 9433ab4202..e2cc1e58e5 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -1768,57 +1768,6 @@ bool TableVal::IsSubsetOf(const TableVal& tv) const
 	return true;
 	}
 
-bool TableVal::ExpandAndInit(ValPtr index, ValPtr new_val)
-	{
-	const auto& index_type = index->GetType();
-
-	if ( index_type->IsSet() )
-		{
-		index = index->AsTableVal()->ToListVal();
-		return ExpandAndInit(std::move(index), std::move(new_val));
-		}
-
-	if ( index_type->Tag() != TYPE_LIST )
-		// Nothing to expand.
-		return CheckAndAssign(std::move(index), std::move(new_val));
-
-	ListVal* iv = index->AsListVal();
-	if ( iv->BaseTag() != TYPE_ANY )
-		{
-		if ( table_type->GetIndices()->GetTypes().size() != 1 )
-			reporter->InternalError("bad singleton list index");
-
-		for ( int i = 0; i < iv->Length(); ++i )
-			if ( ! ExpandAndInit(iv->Idx(i), new_val) )
-				return false;
-
-		return true;
-		}
-
-	else
-		{ // Compound table.
-		int i;
-
-		for ( i = 0; i < iv->Length(); ++i )
-			{
-			const auto& v = iv->Idx(i);
-			// ### if CompositeHash::ComputeHash did flattening
-			// of 1-element lists (like ComputeSingletonHash does),
-			// then we could optimize here.
-			const auto& t = v->GetType();
-
-			if ( t->IsSet() || t->Tag() == TYPE_LIST )
-				break;
-			}
-
-		if ( i >= iv->Length() )
-			// Nothing to expand.
-			return CheckAndAssign(std::move(index), std::move(new_val));
-		else
-			return ExpandCompoundAndInit(iv, i, std::move(new_val));
-		}
-	}
-
 ValPtr TableVal::Default(const ValPtr& index)
 	{
 	const auto& def_attr = GetAttr(detail::ATTR_DEFAULT);
@@ -2446,49 +2395,6 @@ void TableVal::Describe(ODesc* d) const
 		}
 	}
 
-bool TableVal::ExpandCompoundAndInit(ListVal* lv, int k, ValPtr new_val)
-	{
-	Val* ind_k_v = lv->Idx(k).get();
-	auto ind_k = ind_k_v->GetType()->IsSet() ? ind_k_v->AsTableVal()->ToListVal()
-	                                         : ListValPtr{NewRef{}, ind_k_v->AsListVal()};
-
-	for ( int i = 0; i < ind_k->Length(); ++i )
-		{
-		const auto& ind_k_i = ind_k->Idx(i);
-		auto expd = make_intrusive<ListVal>(TYPE_ANY);
-
-		for ( auto j = 0; j < lv->Length(); ++j )
-			{
-			const auto& v = lv->Idx(j);
-
-			if ( j == k )
-				expd->Append(ind_k_i);
-			else
-				expd->Append(v);
-			}
-
-		if ( ! ExpandAndInit(std::move(expd), new_val) )
-			return false;
-		}
-
-	return true;
-	}
-
-bool TableVal::CheckAndAssign(ValPtr index, ValPtr new_val)
-	{
-	Val* v = nullptr;
-	if ( subnets )
-		// We need an exact match here.
-		v = (Val*)subnets->Lookup(index.get(), true);
-	else
-		v = Find(index).get();
-
-	if ( v )
-		index->Warn("multiple initializations for index");
-
-	return Assign(std::move(index), std::move(new_val));
-	}
-
 void TableVal::InitDefaultFunc(detail::Frame* f)
 	{
 	// Value aready initialized.
@@ -2959,13 +2865,12 @@ ValPtr RecordVal::GetFieldOrDefault(const char* field) const
 	return GetFieldOrDefault(idx);
 	}
 
-RecordValPtr RecordVal::CoerceTo(RecordTypePtr t, RecordValPtr aggr, bool allow_orphaning) const
+RecordValPtr RecordVal::DoCoerceTo(RecordTypePtr t, bool allow_orphaning) const
 	{
 	if ( ! record_promotion_compatible(t.get(), GetType()->AsRecordType()) )
 		return nullptr;
 
-	if ( ! aggr )
-		aggr = make_intrusive<RecordVal>(std::move(t));
+	auto aggr = make_intrusive<RecordVal>(std::move(t));
 
 	RecordType* ar_t = aggr->GetType()->AsRecordType();
 	const RecordType* rv_t = GetType()->AsRecordType();
@@ -3023,7 +2928,7 @@ RecordValPtr RecordVal::CoerceTo(RecordTypePtr t, bool allow_orphaning)
 	if ( same_type(GetType(), t) )
 		return {NewRef{}, this};
 
-	return CoerceTo(std::move(t), nullptr, allow_orphaning);
+	return DoCoerceTo(std::move(t), allow_orphaning);
 	}
 
 TableValPtr RecordVal::GetRecordFieldsVal() const
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index acbca8edec..8f78a59f10 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -828,10 +828,6 @@ public:
 	// of the given set.
 	bool IsSubsetOf(const TableVal& v) const;
 
-	// Expands any lists in the index into multiple initializations.
-	// Returns true if the initializations typecheck, false if not.
-	bool ExpandAndInit(ValPtr index, ValPtr new_val);
-
 	/**
 	 * Finds an index in the table and returns its associated value.
 	 * @param index  The index to lookup in the table.
@@ -1003,8 +999,6 @@ protected:
 	void RebuildTable(ParseTimeTableState ptts);
 
 	void CheckExpireAttr(detail::AttrTag at);
-	bool ExpandCompoundAndInit(ListVal* lv, int k, ValPtr new_val);
-	bool CheckAndAssign(ValPtr index, ValPtr new_val);
 
 	// Calculates default value for index.  Returns nullptr if none.
 	ValPtr Default(const ValPtr& index);
@@ -1359,18 +1353,16 @@ public:
 	Obj* GetOrigin() const { return origin; }
 
 	// Returns a new value representing the value coerced to the given
-	// type. If coercion is not possible, returns 0. The non-const
+	// type. If coercion is not possible, returns nil. The non-const
 	// version may return the current value ref'ed if its type matches
 	// directly.
 	//
-	// *aggr* is optional; if non-zero, we add to it. See
-	// Expr::InitVal(). We leave it out in the non-const version to make
-	// the choice unambigious.
-	//
 	// The *allow_orphaning* parameter allows for a record to be demoted
 	// down to a record type that contains less fields.
-	RecordValPtr CoerceTo(RecordTypePtr other, RecordValPtr aggr,
-	                      bool allow_orphaning = false) const;
+	RecordValPtr CoerceTo(RecordTypePtr other, bool allow_orphaning = false) const
+		{
+		return DoCoerceTo(other, allow_orphaning);
+		}
 	RecordValPtr CoerceTo(RecordTypePtr other, bool allow_orphaning = false);
 
 	[[deprecated("Remove in v5.1. MemoryAllocation() is deprecated and will be removed. See "
@@ -1390,6 +1382,8 @@ public:
 protected:
 	friend class zeek::detail::ZBody;
 
+	RecordValPtr DoCoerceTo(RecordTypePtr other, bool allow_orphaning) const;
+
 	/**
 	 * Appends a value to the record's fields.  The caller is responsible
 	 * for ensuring that fields are appended in the correct order and