diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index df572f3a..f72a0c94 100755
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -26,29 +26,20 @@ exports.merge = function (target, source) {
         return target;
     }
 
-    if (Array.isArray(source)) {
-        for (var i = 0, il = source.length; i < il; ++i) {
-            if (typeof source[i] !== 'undefined') {
-                if (typeof target[i] === 'object') {
-                    target[i] = exports.merge(target[i], source[i]);
-                }
-                else {
-                    target[i] = source[i];
-                }
-            }
-        }
+    if (typeof source !== 'object') {
+        target.push(source);
+        return target;
+    }
 
+    if (typeof target !== 'object') {
+        target = [target].concat(source);
         return target;
     }
 
-    if (Array.isArray(target)) {
-        if (typeof source !== 'object') {
-            target.push(source);
-            return target;
-        }
-        else {
-            target = exports.arrayToObject(target);
-        }
+    if (Array.isArray(target) &&
+        !Array.isArray(source)) {
+
+        target = exports.arrayToObject(target);
     }
 
     var keys = Object.keys(source);
@@ -56,18 +47,11 @@ exports.merge = function (target, source) {
         var key = keys[k];
         var value = source[key];
 
-        if (value &&
-            typeof value === 'object') {
-
-            if (!target[key]) {
-                target[key] = value;
-            }
-            else {
-                target[key] = exports.merge(target[key], value);
-            }
+        if (!target[key]) {
+            target[key] = value;
         }
         else {
-            target[key] = value;
+            target[key] = exports.merge(target[key], value);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/test/parse.js b/test/parse.js
index 8bed58bf..26bb564f 100755
--- a/test/parse.js
+++ b/test/parse.js
@@ -80,6 +80,17 @@ describe('parse()', function () {
         done();
     });
 
+    it('parses a mix of simple and explicit arrays', function (done) {
+
+        expect(Qs.parse('a=b&a[]=c')).to.deep.equal({ a: ['b', 'c'] });
+        expect(Qs.parse('a[]=b&a=c')).to.deep.equal({ a: ['b', 'c'] });
+        expect(Qs.parse('a[0]=b&a=c')).to.deep.equal({ a: ['b', 'c'] });
+        expect(Qs.parse('a=b&a[0]=c')).to.deep.equal({ a: ['b', 'c'] });
+        expect(Qs.parse('a[1]=b&a=c')).to.deep.equal({ a: ['b', 'c'] });
+        expect(Qs.parse('a=b&a[1]=c')).to.deep.equal({ a: ['b', 'c'] });
+        done();
+    });
+
     it('parses a nested array', function (done) {
 
         expect(Qs.parse('a[b][]=c&a[b][]=d')).to.deep.equal({ a: { b: ['c', 'd'] } });