diff --git a/src/host/indexing.jl b/src/host/indexing.jl
index 2b8e17da..25fa0f7f 100644
--- a/src/host/indexing.jl
+++ b/src/host/indexing.jl
@@ -1,43 +1,62 @@
 # host-level indexing
 
 
-# basic indexing with integers
+# indexing operators
 
 Base.IndexStyle(::Type{<:AbstractGPUArray}) = Base.IndexLinear()
 
-function Base.getindex(xs::AbstractGPUArray{T}, I::Integer...) where T
+vectorized_indices(Is::Union{Integer,CartesianIndex}...) = Val{false}()
+vectorized_indices(Is...) = Val{true}()
+
+# TODO: re-use Base functionality for the conversion of indices to a linear index,
+#       by only implementing `getindex(A, ::Int)` etc. this is difficult if we want
+#       to also want to match the case where we take any vectorized index...
+
+Base.@propagate_inbounds Base.getindex(A::AbstractGPUArray, Is...) =
+    _getindex(vectorized_indices(Is...), A, to_indices(A, Is)...)
+Base.@propagate_inbounds _getindex(::Val{false}, A::AbstractGPUArray, Is...) =
+    scalar_getindex(A, to_indices(A, Is)...)
+Base.@propagate_inbounds _getindex(::Val{true}, A::AbstractGPUArray, Is...) =
+    vectorized_getindex(A, to_indices(A, Is)...)
+
+Base.@propagate_inbounds Base.setindex!(A::AbstractGPUArray, v, Is...) =
+    _setindex!(vectorized_indices(Is...), A, v, to_indices(A, Is)...)
+Base.@propagate_inbounds _setindex!(::Val{false}, A::AbstractGPUArray, v, Is...) =
+    scalar_setindex!(A, v, to_indices(A, Is)...)
+Base.@propagate_inbounds _setindex!(::Val{true}, A::AbstractGPUArray, v, Is...) =
+    vectorized_setindex!(A, v, to_indices(A, Is)...)
+
+## scalar indexing
+
+function scalar_getindex(A::AbstractGPUArray{T}, Is...) where T
     assertscalar("getindex")
-    i = Base._to_linear_index(xs, I...)
+    @boundscheck checkbounds(A, Is...)
+    i = Base._to_linear_index(A, Is...)
     x = Array{T}(undef, 1)
-    copyto!(x, 1, xs, i, 1)
+    copyto!(x, 1, A, i, 1)
     return x[1]
 end
 
-function Base.setindex!(xs::AbstractGPUArray{T}, v::T, I::Integer...) where T
+function scalar_setindex!(A::AbstractGPUArray{T}, v, Is...) where T
     assertscalar("setindex!")
-    i = Base._to_linear_index(xs, I...)
+    @boundscheck checkbounds(A, Is...)
+    i = Base._to_linear_index(A, Is...)
     x = T[v]
-    copyto!(xs, i, x, 1, 1)
-    return xs
+    copyto!(A, i, x, 1, 1)
+    return A
 end
 
-Base.setindex!(xs::AbstractGPUArray, v, I::Integer...) =
-    setindex!(xs, convert(eltype(xs), v), I...)
-
+## vectorized indexing
 
-# basic indexing with cartesian indices
-
-Base.@propagate_inbounds Base.getindex(A::AbstractGPUArray, I::Union{Integer, CartesianIndex}...) =
-    A[Base.to_indices(A, I)...]
-Base.@propagate_inbounds Base.setindex!(A::AbstractGPUArray, v, I::Union{Integer, CartesianIndex}...) =
-    (A[Base.to_indices(A, I)...] = v; A)
-
-
-# generalized multidimensional indexing
-
-Base.getindex(A::AbstractGPUArray, I...) = _getindex(A, to_indices(A, I)...)
+function vectorized_checkbounds(src, Is)
+    # Base's boundscheck accesses the indices, so make sure they reside on the CPU.
+    # this is expensive, but it's a bounds check after all.
+    Is_cpu = map(I->adapt(BackToCPU(), I), Is)
+    checkbounds(src, Is_cpu...)
+end
 
-function _getindex(src::AbstractGPUArray, Is...)
+function vectorized_getindex(src::AbstractGPUArray, Is...)
+    @boundscheck vectorized_checkbounds(src, Is)
     shape = Base.index_shape(Is...)
     dest = similar(src, shape)
     any(isempty, Is) && return dest # indexing with empty array
@@ -61,9 +80,8 @@ end
     end
 end
 
-Base.setindex!(A::AbstractGPUArray, v, I...) = _setindex!(A, v, to_indices(A, I)...)
-
-function _setindex!(dest::AbstractGPUArray, src, Is...)
+function vectorized_setindex!(dest::AbstractGPUArray, src, Is...)
+    @boundscheck vectorized_checkbounds(dest, Is)
     isempty(Is) && return dest
     idims = length.(Is)
     len = prod(idims)
@@ -96,7 +114,7 @@ end
 end
 
 
-## find*
+# find*
 
 # simple array type that returns the index used to access an element, while
 # retaining the dimensionality of the original array. this can be used to