diff --git a/base/replutil.jl b/base/replutil.jl
index 0285d40873048..48e41e463e61b 100644
--- a/base/replutil.jl
+++ b/base/replutil.jl
@@ -21,12 +21,11 @@ function writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", f::Builtin)
     print(io, typeof(f).name.mt.name, " (built-in function)")
 end
 
-# writemime for ranges, e.g.
-#  3-element UnitRange{Int64,Int}
-#   1,2,3
-# or for more elements than fit on screen:
-#   1.0,2.0,3.0,…,6.0,7.0,8.0
-function writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", r::Range)
+# writemime for linspace, e.g.
+# linspace(1,3,7)
+# 7-element LinSpace{Float64}:
+#   1.0,1.33333,1.66667,2.0,2.33333,2.66667,3.0
+function writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", r::LinSpace)
     print(io, summary(r))
     if !isempty(r)
         println(io, ":")
@@ -34,6 +33,11 @@ function writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", r::Range)
     end
 end
 
+# writemime for ranges
+function writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", r::Range)
+  show(io, r)
+end
+
 function writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", v::AbstractVector)
     print(io, summary(v))
     if !isempty(v)
diff --git a/test/ranges.jl b/test/ranges.jl
index 3882c02ca302e..87ab20ccabf8f 100644
--- a/test/ranges.jl
+++ b/test/ranges.jl
@@ -564,13 +564,13 @@ end
 # stringmime/writemime should display the range or linspace nicely
 # to test print_range in range.jl
 replstrmime(x) = stringmime("text/plain", x)
-@test replstrmime(1:4) == "4-element UnitRange{$Int}:\n 1,2,3,4"
+@test replstrmime(1:4) == "1:4"
 @test replstrmime(linspace(1,5,7)) == "7-element LinSpace{Float64}:\n 1.0,1.66667,2.33333,3.0,3.66667,4.33333,5.0"
-@test replstrmime(0:100.) == "101-element FloatRange{Float64}:\n 0.0,1.0,2.0,3.0,4.0,5.0,6.0,7.0,8.0,9.0,…,94.0,95.0,96.0,97.0,98.0,99.0,100.0"
+@test replstrmime(0:100.) == "0.0:1.0:100.0"
 # next is to test a very large range, which should be fast because print_range
 # only examines spacing of the left and right edges of the range, sufficient
 # to cover the designated screen size.
-@test replstrmime(0:10^9) == "1000000001-element UnitRange{$Int}:\n 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,…,999999998,999999999,1000000000"
+@test replstrmime(linspace(0,100, 10000)) == "10000-element LinSpace{Float64}:\n 0.0,0.010001,0.020002,0.030003,0.040004,…,99.95,99.96,99.97,99.98,99.99,100.0"
 
 @test sprint(io -> show(io,UnitRange(1,2))) == "1:2"
 @test sprint(io -> show(io,StepRange(1,2,5))) == "1:2:5"