diff --git a/bson/bsonelement.h b/bson/bsonelement.h
index a6bf23e825b..504b542154a 100644
--- a/bson/bsonelement.h
+++ b/bson/bsonelement.h
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             You must assure element is a boolean before
             calling. */
         bool boolean() const {
-            return *value(); // ? true : false;
+            return *value() ? true : false;
         }
 
         bool booleanSafe() const { return isBoolean() && boolean(); }
diff --git a/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp b/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp
index b792250291c..3c9bd926a61 100644
--- a/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp
+++ b/client/syncclusterconnection.cpp
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ namespace mongo {
     BSONObj SyncClusterConnection::findOne(const string &ns, const Query& query, const BSONObj *fieldsToReturn, int queryOptions) {
 
         if ( ns.find( ".$cmd" ) != string::npos ) {
-            string cmdName = query.obj.firstElement().fieldName();
+            string cmdName = query.obj.firstElementFieldName();
 
             int lockType = _lockType( cmdName );
 
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             const BSONObj *fieldsToReturn, int queryOptions, int batchSize ) {
         _lastErrors.clear();
         if ( ns.find( ".$cmd" ) != string::npos ) {
-            string cmdName = query.obj.firstElement().fieldName();
+            string cmdName = query.obj.firstElementFieldName();
             int lockType = _lockType( cmdName );
             uassert( 13054 , (string)"write $cmd not supported in SyncClusterConnection::query for:" + cmdName , lockType <= 0 );
         }
diff --git a/db/dbcommands_admin.cpp b/db/dbcommands_admin.cpp
index 9e9ae115e37..5ee88cd1441 100644
--- a/db/dbcommands_admin.cpp
+++ b/db/dbcommands_admin.cpp
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ namespace mongo {
                                     errors << "invalid bson object detected (see logs for more info)";
 
                                 nInvalid++;
-                                if (strcmp("_id", obj.firstElement().fieldName()) == 0){
+                                if (strcmp("_id", obj.firstElementFieldName()) == 0){
                                     try {
                                         obj.firstElement().validate(); // throws on error
                                         log() << "Invalid bson detected in " << ns << " with _id: " << obj.firstElement().toString(false) << endl;
diff --git a/db/dbhelpers.cpp b/db/dbhelpers.cpp
index 334a42fba01..ffdcb62e248 100644
--- a/db/dbhelpers.cpp
+++ b/db/dbhelpers.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ namespace mongo {
     public:
         FindOne( bool requireIndex ) : requireIndex_( requireIndex ) {}
         virtual void _init() {
-            if ( requireIndex_ && strcmp( qp().indexKey().firstElement().fieldName(), "$natural" ) == 0 )
+            if ( requireIndex_ && strcmp( qp().indexKey().firstElementFieldName(), "$natural" ) == 0 )
                 throw MsgAssertionException( 9011 , "Not an index cursor" );
             c_ = qp().newCursor();
             if ( !c_->ok() ) {
diff --git a/db/projection.cpp b/db/projection.cpp
index 3dcfef73d08..d07e56527af 100644
--- a/db/projection.cpp
+++ b/db/projection.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ namespace mongo {
                     }
                 }
                 else {
-                    uassert(13097, string("Unsupported projection option: ") + obj.firstElement().fieldName(), false);
+                    uassert(13097, string("Unsupported projection option: ") + obj.firstElementFieldName(), false);
                 }
 
             }
diff --git a/db/queryoptimizer.cpp b/db/queryoptimizer.cpp
index 2397d67b569..bda44c4cd9c 100644
--- a/db/queryoptimizer.cpp
+++ b/db/queryoptimizer.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ namespace mongo {
         }
             
         if ( willScanTable() ) {
-            if ( _order.isEmpty() || !strcmp( _order.firstElement().fieldName(), "$natural" ) )
+            if ( _order.isEmpty() || !strcmp( _order.firstElementFieldName(), "$natural" ) )
                 _scanAndOrderRequired = false;
             return;                
         }
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ doneCheckOrder:
         }
 
         if ( ( _scanAndOrderRequired || _order.isEmpty() ) &&
-                !_frs.range( idxKey.firstElement().fieldName() ).nontrivial() ) {
+                !_frs.range( idxKey.firstElementFieldName() ).nontrivial() ) {
             _unhelpful = true;
         }
     }
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ doneCheckOrder:
         else if( hint.type() == Object ) {
             BSONObj hintobj = hint.embeddedObject();
             uassert( 10112 ,  "bad hint", !hintobj.isEmpty() );
-            if ( !strcmp( hintobj.firstElement().fieldName(), "$natural" ) ) {
+            if ( !strcmp( hintobj.firstElementFieldName(), "$natural" ) ) {
                 return 0;
             }
             NamespaceDetails::IndexIterator i = d->ii();
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ doneCheckOrder:
             if ( !bestIndex.isEmpty() ) {
                 QueryPlanPtr p;
                 _oldNScanned = oldNScanned;
-                if ( !strcmp( bestIndex.firstElement().fieldName(), "$natural" ) ) {
+                if ( !strcmp( bestIndex.firstElementFieldName(), "$natural" ) ) {
                     // Table scan plan
                     p.reset( new QueryPlan( d, -1, *_frsp, *_originalFrsp, _originalQuery, _order ) );
                 }
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ doneCheckOrder:
 
         // If table scan is optimal or natural order requested or tailable cursor requested
         if ( !_frsp->matchPossible() || ( _frsp->noNontrivialRanges() && _order.isEmpty() ) ||
-                ( !_order.isEmpty() && !strcmp( _order.firstElement().fieldName(), "$natural" ) ) ) {
+                ( !_order.isEmpty() && !strcmp( _order.firstElementFieldName(), "$natural" ) ) ) {
             // Table scan plan
             addPlan( QueryPlanPtr( new QueryPlan( d, -1, *_frsp, *_originalFrsp, _originalQuery, _order ) ), checkFirst );
             return;
@@ -1163,7 +1163,7 @@ doneCheckOrder:
             return true;
 
         if ( e.type() == Object )
-            return e.Obj().firstElement().fieldName()[0] != '$';
+            return e.Obj().firstElementFieldName()[0] != '$';
 
         return false;
     }
diff --git a/db/queryutil.cpp b/db/queryutil.cpp
index ed64a67fadd..55e19d05557 100644
--- a/db/queryutil.cpp
+++ b/db/queryutil.cpp
@@ -773,7 +773,7 @@ namespace mongo {
     void FieldRangeSet::processQueryField( const BSONElement &e, bool optimize ) {
         bool equality = ( getGtLtOp( e ) == BSONObj::Equality );
         if ( equality && e.type() == Object ) {
-            equality = ( strcmp( e.embeddedObject().firstElement().fieldName(), "$not" ) != 0 );
+            equality = ( strcmp( e.embeddedObject().firstElementFieldName(), "$not" ) != 0 );
         }
 
         if ( equality || ( e.type() == Object && !e.embeddedObject()[ "$regex" ].eoo() ) ) {
diff --git a/db/update.cpp b/db/update.cpp
index ac66b354ab1..c1bfae2f950 100644
--- a/db/update.cpp
+++ b/db/update.cpp
@@ -756,7 +756,7 @@ namespace mongo {
                 if ( e.fieldName()[0] == '$' ) // for $atomic and anything else we add
                     continue;
 
-                if ( e.type() == Object && e.embeddedObject().firstElement().fieldName()[0] == '$' ) {
+                if ( e.type() == Object && e.embeddedObject().firstElementFieldName()[0] == '$' ) {
                     // this means this is a $gt type filter, so don't make part of the new object
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -1040,7 +1040,7 @@ namespace mongo {
         /* end note */
 
         auto_ptr<ModSet> mods;
-        bool isOperatorUpdate = updateobj.firstElement().fieldName()[0] == '$';
+        bool isOperatorUpdate = updateobj.firstElementFieldName()[0] == '$';
         int modsIsIndexed = false; // really the # of indexes
         if ( isOperatorUpdate ) {
             if( d && d->indexBuildInProgress ) {
@@ -1251,7 +1251,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             debug.nscanned = (int) nscanned;
 
         if ( upsert ) {
-            if ( updateobj.firstElement().fieldName()[0] == '$' ) {
+            if ( updateobj.firstElementFieldName()[0] == '$' ) {
                 /* upsert of an $inc. build a default */
                 BSONObj newObj = mods->createNewFromQuery( patternOrig );
                 debug.fastmodinsert = true;
diff --git a/dbtests/jsobjtests.cpp b/dbtests/jsobjtests.cpp
index 6abe1b3cdb0..ea743559dc0 100644
--- a/dbtests/jsobjtests.cpp
+++ b/dbtests/jsobjtests.cpp
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@ namespace JsobjTests {
             assert( BSON( "b" << 11 ).woCompare( x.extractFields( BSON( "b" << 1 ) ) ) == 0 );
             assert( x.woCompare( x.extractFields( BSON( "a" << 1 << "b" << 1 ) ) ) == 0 );
 
-            assert( (string)"a" == x.extractFields( BSON( "a" << 1 << "c" << 1 ) ).firstElement().fieldName() );
+            assert( (string)"a" == x.extractFields( BSON( "a" << 1 << "c" << 1 ) ).firstElementFieldName() );
         }
     };
 
diff --git a/dbtests/queryoptimizertests.cpp b/dbtests/queryoptimizertests.cpp
index 5ab455d570b..97198e4877a 100644
--- a/dbtests/queryoptimizertests.cpp
+++ b/dbtests/queryoptimizertests.cpp
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ namespace QueryOptimizerTests {
                 TestOp() {}
                 virtual void _init() {}
                 virtual void next() {
-                    if ( qp().indexKey().firstElement().fieldName() == string( "$natural" ) )
+                    if ( qp().indexKey().firstElementFieldName() == string( "$natural" ) )
                         massert( 10410 ,  "throw", false );
                     setComplete();
                 }
@@ -942,11 +942,11 @@ namespace QueryOptimizerTests {
             boost::shared_ptr< Cursor > c = bestGuessCursor( ns(), BSON( "b" << 1 ), BSON( "a" << 1 ) );
             ASSERT_EQUALS( string( "a" ), c->indexKeyPattern().firstElement().fieldName() );
             c = bestGuessCursor( ns(), BSON( "a" << 1 ), BSON( "b" << 1 ) );
-            ASSERT_EQUALS( string( "b" ), c->indexKeyPattern().firstElement().fieldName() );
+            ASSERT_EQUALS( string( "b" ), c->indexKeyPattern().firstElementFieldName() );
             boost::shared_ptr< MultiCursor > m = dynamic_pointer_cast< MultiCursor >( bestGuessCursor( ns(), fromjson( "{b:1,$or:[{z:1}]}" ), BSON( "a" << 1 ) ) );
             ASSERT_EQUALS( string( "a" ), m->sub_c()->indexKeyPattern().firstElement().fieldName() );
             m = dynamic_pointer_cast< MultiCursor >( bestGuessCursor( ns(), fromjson( "{a:1,$or:[{y:1}]}" ), BSON( "b" << 1 ) ) );
-            ASSERT_EQUALS( string( "b" ), m->sub_c()->indexKeyPattern().firstElement().fieldName() );
+            ASSERT_EQUALS( string( "b" ), m->sub_c()->indexKeyPattern().firstElementFieldName() );
 
             FieldRangeSet frs( "ns", BSON( "a" << 1 ), true );
             {
diff --git a/dbtests/querytests.cpp b/dbtests/querytests.cpp
index 073d9242874..5440f886bbf 100644
--- a/dbtests/querytests.cpp
+++ b/dbtests/querytests.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ namespace QueryTests {
         }
         static void addIndex( const BSONObj &key ) {
             BSONObjBuilder b;
-            b.append( "name", key.firstElement().fieldName() );
+            b.append( "name", key.firstElementFieldName() );
             b.append( "ns", ns() );
             b.append( "key", key );
             BSONObj o = b.done();
diff --git a/s/chunk.cpp b/s/chunk.cpp
index c8e80120dc2..945b52d2570 100644
--- a/s/chunk.cpp
+++ b/s/chunk.cpp
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             boost::scoped_ptr<FieldRangeSetPair> frsp (org.topFrsp());
             {
                 // special case if most-significant field isn't in query
-                FieldRange range = frsp->singleKeyRange(_key.key().firstElement().fieldName());
+                FieldRange range = frsp->singleKeyRange(_key.key().firstElementFieldName());
                 if ( !range.nontrivial() ) {
                     DEV PRINT(range.nontrivial());
                     getAllShards(shards);
diff --git a/s/d_split.cpp b/s/d_split.cpp
index 5163c474d2b..1cf5dcb0c7c 100644
--- a/s/d_split.cpp
+++ b/s/d_split.cpp
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             const char* ns = jsobj.getStringField( "checkShardingIndex" );
             BSONObj keyPattern = jsobj.getObjectField( "keyPattern" );
 
-            if ( keyPattern.nFields() == 1 && str::equals( "_id" , keyPattern.firstElement().fieldName() ) ) {
+            if ( keyPattern.nFields() == 1 && str::equals( "_id" , keyPattern.firstElementFieldName() ) ) {
                 result.appendBool( "idskip" , true );
                 return true;
             }
diff --git a/s/strategy_shard.cpp b/s/strategy_shard.cpp
index 0b723aeb6c4..9d625f11d0a 100644
--- a/s/strategy_shard.cpp
+++ b/s/strategy_shard.cpp
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             if (upsert) {
                 uassert(8012, "can't upsert something without shard key",
                         (manager->hasShardKey(toupdate) ||
-                         (toupdate.firstElement().fieldName()[0] == '$' && manager->hasShardKey(query))));
+                         (toupdate.firstElementFieldName()[0] == '$' && manager->hasShardKey(query))));
 
                 BSONObj key = manager->getShardKey().extractKey(query);
                 BSONForEach(e, key) {
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ namespace mongo {
             if ( ! manager->hasShardKey( query ) ) {
                 if ( multi ) {
                 }
-                else if ( strcmp( query.firstElement().fieldName() , "_id" ) || query.nFields() != 1 ) {
+                else if ( strcmp( query.firstElementFieldName() , "_id" ) || query.nFields() != 1 ) {
                     throw UserException( 8013 , "can't do non-multi update with query that doesn't have the shard key" );
                 }
                 else {
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ namespace mongo {
 
 
             if ( ! save ) {
-                if ( toupdate.firstElement().fieldName()[0] == '$' ) {
+                if ( toupdate.firstElementFieldName()[0] == '$' ) {
                     BSONObjIterator ops(toupdate);
                     while(ops.more()) {
                         BSONElement op(ops.next());
diff --git a/s/strategy_single.cpp b/s/strategy_single.cpp
index 5f233f83cf9..b364880e5c6 100644
--- a/s/strategy_single.cpp
+++ b/s/strategy_single.cpp
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ namespace mongo {
                     }
                 }
 
-                string commandName = q.query.firstElement().fieldName();
+                string commandName = q.query.firstElementFieldName();
 
                 uassert(13390, "unrecognized command: " + commandName, _commandsSafeToPass.count(commandName) != 0);
             }
diff --git a/scripting/engine_spidermonkey.cpp b/scripting/engine_spidermonkey.cpp
index 5f7551ce93a..9e55397a4cd 100644
--- a/scripting/engine_spidermonkey.cpp
+++ b/scripting/engine_spidermonkey.cpp
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ namespace mongo {
 
         JSObject * toJSObject( const BSONObj * obj , bool readOnly=false ) {
             static string ref = "$ref";
-            if ( ref == obj->firstElement().fieldName() ) {
+            if ( ref == obj->firstElementFieldName() ) {
                 JSObject * o = JS_NewObject( _context , &dbref_class , NULL, NULL);
                 CHECKNEWOBJECT(o,_context,"toJSObject1");
                 assert( JS_SetPrivate( _context , o , (void*)(new BSONHolder( obj->getOwned() ) ) ) );