diff --git a/PROTO_tests/tests/indexing_test.py b/PROTO_tests/tests/indexing_test.py
index bd6f37fe10..4135a30b39 100644
--- a/PROTO_tests/tests/indexing_test.py
+++ b/PROTO_tests/tests/indexing_test.py
@@ -103,3 +103,8 @@ def test_bigint_indexing_preserves_max_bits(self):
         a = ak.arange(2**200 - 1, 2**200 + 11, max_bits=max_bits)
         assert max_bits == a[ak.arange(10)].max_bits
         assert max_bits == a[:].max_bits
+
+    def test_handling_bigint_max_bits(self):
+        a = ak.arange(2**200 - 1, 2**200 + 11, max_bits=3)
+        a[:] = ak.arange(2**200 - 1, 2**200 + 11)
+        assert [7, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 0, 1, 2] == a.to_list()
diff --git a/src/IndexingMsg.chpl b/src/IndexingMsg.chpl
index 24e08d35e8..c83ef4fcf5 100644
--- a/src/IndexingMsg.chpl
+++ b/src/IndexingMsg.chpl
@@ -608,7 +608,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = valueArg.getBigIntValue();
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[idx] = val;
              }
@@ -616,7 +619,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = valueArg.getIntValue():bigint;
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[idx] = val;
              }
@@ -624,7 +630,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = valueArg.getUIntValue():bigint;
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[idx] = val;
              }
@@ -632,7 +641,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = valueArg.getBoolValue():bigint;
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[idx] = val;
              }
@@ -1150,7 +1162,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = value.getBigIntValue();
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[slice] = val;
              }
@@ -1158,7 +1173,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = value.getIntValue():bigint;
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[slice] = val;
              }
@@ -1166,7 +1184,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = value.getUIntValue():bigint;
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[slice] = val;
              }
@@ -1174,7 +1195,10 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var e = toSymEntry(gEnt,bigint);
                 var val = value.getBoolValue():bigint;
                 if e.max_bits != -1 {
-                  mod(val, val, e.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= e.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    val &= max_size;
                 }
                 e.a[slice] = val;
              }
@@ -1309,7 +1333,12 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var x = toSymEntry(gX,bigint);
                 var y = toSymEntry(gY,bigint);
                 if x.max_bits != -1 {
-                    mod(y.a, y.a, x.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= x.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    forall y in y.a with (var local_max_size = max_size) {
+                        y &= local_max_size;
+                    }
                 }
                 x.a[slice] = y.a;
              }
@@ -1318,7 +1347,12 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var y = toSymEntry(gY,int);
                 var ya = y.a:bigint;
                 if x.max_bits != -1 {
-                    mod(ya, ya, x.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= x.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    forall y in ya with (var local_max_size = max_size) {
+                        y &= local_max_size;
+                    }
                 }
                 x.a[slice] = ya;
              }
@@ -1327,7 +1361,12 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 var y = toSymEntry(gY,uint);
                 var ya = y.a:bigint;
                 if x.max_bits != -1 {
-                    mod(ya, ya, x.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= x.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    forall y in ya with (var local_max_size = max_size) {
+                        y &= local_max_size;
+                    }
                 }
                 x.a[slice] = ya;
              }
@@ -1337,7 +1376,12 @@ module IndexingMsg
                 // TODO change once we can cast directly from bool to bigint
                 var ya = y.a:int:bigint;
                 if x.max_bits != -1 {
-                    mod(ya, ya, x.max_bits);
+                    var max_size = 1:bigint;
+                    max_size <<= x.max_bits;
+                    max_size -= 1;
+                    forall y in ya with (var local_max_size = max_size) {
+                        y &= local_max_size;
+                    }
                 }
                 x.a[slice] = ya;
              }
diff --git a/tests/indexing_test.py b/tests/indexing_test.py
index 177948f566..685ddafe78 100644
--- a/tests/indexing_test.py
+++ b/tests/indexing_test.py
@@ -89,3 +89,8 @@ def test_bigint_indexing_preserves_max_bits(self):
         a = ak.arange(2**200 - 1, 2**200 + 11, max_bits=max_bits)
         self.assertEqual(max_bits, a[ak.arange(10)].max_bits)
         self.assertEqual(max_bits, a[:].max_bits)
+
+    def test_handling_bigint_max_bits(self):
+        a = ak.arange(2**200 - 1, 2**200 + 11, max_bits=3)
+        a[:] = ak.arange(2**200 - 1, 2**200 + 11)
+        self.assertListEqual([7, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 0, 1, 2], a.to_list())
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