diff --git a/include/pybind11/attr.h b/include/pybind11/attr.h
index 6c413284..9acb3e3a 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/attr.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/attr.h
@@ -14,30 +14,6 @@
 
 NAMESPACE_BEGIN(pybind11)
 
-/// Annotation for keyword arguments
-struct arg {
-    constexpr explicit arg(const char *name) : name(name) { }
-
-    template <typename T>
-    constexpr arg_t<T> operator=(const T &value) const { return {name, value}; }
-
-    const char *name;
-};
-
-/// Annotation for keyword arguments with default values
-template <typename T> struct arg_t : public arg {
-    constexpr arg_t(const char *name, const T &value, const char *descr = nullptr)
-        : arg(name), value(&value), descr(descr) { }
-
-    const T *value;
-    const char *descr;
-};
-
-inline namespace literals {
-/// String literal version of arg
-constexpr arg operator"" _a(const char *name, size_t) { return arg(name); }
-}
-
 /// Annotation for methods
 struct is_method { handle class_; is_method(const handle &c) : class_(c) { } };
 
@@ -233,21 +209,14 @@ template <> struct process_attribute<arg> : process_attribute_default<arg> {
 };
 
 /// Process a keyword argument attribute (*with* a default value)
-template <typename T>
-struct process_attribute<arg_t<T>> : process_attribute_default<arg_t<T>> {
-    static void init(const arg_t<T> &a, function_record *r) {
+template <> struct process_attribute<arg_v> : process_attribute_default<arg_v> {
+    static void init(const arg_v &a, function_record *r) {
         if (r->class_ && r->args.empty())
             r->args.emplace_back("self", nullptr, handle());
 
-        /* Convert keyword value into a Python object */
-        auto o = object(detail::make_caster<T>::cast(
-                *a.value, return_value_policy::automatic, handle()), false);
-
-        if (!o) {
+        if (!a.value) {
 #if !defined(NDEBUG)
-            std::string descr(typeid(T).name());
-            detail::clean_type_id(descr);
-            descr = "'" + std::string(a.name) + ": " + descr + "'";
+            auto descr = "'" + std::string(a.name) + ": " + a.type + "'";
             if (r->class_) {
                 if (r->name)
                     descr += " in method '" + (std::string) r->class_.str() + "." + (std::string) r->name + "'";
@@ -264,7 +233,7 @@ struct process_attribute<arg_t<T>> : process_attribute_default<arg_t<T>> {
                           "Compile in debug mode for more information.");
 #endif
         }
-        r->args.emplace_back(a.name, a.descr, o.release());
+        r->args.emplace_back(a.name, a.descr, a.value.inc_ref());
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index 213fbd2e..c8c8f77b 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -949,6 +949,44 @@ template <return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
     return result;
 }
 
+/// Annotation for keyword arguments
+struct arg {
+    constexpr explicit arg(const char *name) : name(name) { }
+    template <typename T> arg_v operator=(T &&value) const;
+
+    const char *name;
+};
+
+/// Annotation for keyword arguments with values
+struct arg_v : arg {
+    template <typename T>
+    arg_v(const char *name, T &&x, const char *descr = nullptr)
+        : arg(name),
+          value(detail::make_caster<T>::cast(x, return_value_policy::automatic, handle()), false),
+          descr(descr)
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
+        , type(type_id<T>())
+#endif
+    { }
+
+    object value;
+    const char *descr;
+#if !defined(NDEBUG)
+    std::string type;
+#endif
+};
+
+template <typename T>
+arg_v arg::operator=(T &&value) const { return {name, std::forward<T>(value)}; }
+
+/// Alias for backward compatibility -- to be remove in version 2.0
+template <typename /*unused*/> using arg_t = arg_v;
+
+inline namespace literals {
+/// String literal version of arg
+constexpr arg operator"" _a(const char *name, size_t) { return arg(name); }
+}
+
 NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 NAMESPACE_BEGIN(constexpr_impl)
 /// Implementation details for constexpr functions
@@ -1044,8 +1082,7 @@ private:
         }
     }
 
-    template <typename T>
-    void process(list &/*args_list*/, arg_t<T> &&a) {
+    void process(list &/*args_list*/, arg_v a) {
         if (m_kwargs[a.name]) {
 #if defined(NDEBUG)
             multiple_values_error();
@@ -1053,15 +1090,14 @@ private:
             multiple_values_error(a.name);
 #endif
         }
-        auto o = object(detail::make_caster<T>::cast(*a.value, policy, nullptr), false);
-        if (!o) {
+        if (!a.value) {
 #if defined(NDEBUG)
             argument_cast_error();
 #else
-            argument_cast_error(a.name, type_id<T>());
+            argument_cast_error(a.name, a.type);
 #endif
         }
-        m_kwargs[a.name] = o;
+        m_kwargs[a.name] = a.value;
     }
 
     void process(list &/*args_list*/, detail::kwargs_proxy kp) {
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index d7fda31d..51f16291 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ NAMESPACE_BEGIN(pybind11)
 
 /* A few forward declarations */
 class object; class str; class iterator;
-struct arg; template <typename T> struct arg_t;
+struct arg; struct arg_v;
 namespace detail { class accessor; class args_proxy; class kwargs_proxy; }
 
 /// Holds a reference to a Python object (no reference counting)