diff --git a/src/core.jl b/src/core.jl
index 3b93930..2b43ad2 100644
--- a/src/core.jl
+++ b/src/core.jl
@@ -516,6 +516,7 @@ immutable Unsupported <: AxisTrait end
 
 """
     axistrait(ax::Axis) -> Type{<:AxisTrait}
+    axistrait{T}(::Type{T}) -> Type{<:AxisTrait}
 
 Returns the indexing type of an `Axis`, any subtype of `AxisTrait`.
 The default is `Unsupported`, meaning there is no special indexing behaviour for this axis
@@ -528,13 +529,16 @@ User-defined axis types can be added along with custom indexing behaviors by def
 methods of this function. Here is the example of adding a custom Dimensional axis:
 
 ```julia
-AxisArrays.axistrait(v::MyCustomAxis) = AxisArrays.Dimensional
+AxisArrays.axistrait(::Type{MyCustomAxis}) = AxisArrays.Dimensional
 ```
 """
-axistrait(::Any) = Unsupported
-axistrait(ax::Axis) = axistrait(ax.val)
-axistrait{T<:Union{Number, Dates.AbstractTime}}(::AbstractVector{T}) = Dimensional
-axistrait{T<:Union{Symbol, AbstractString}}(::AbstractVector{T}) = Categorical
+axistrait{T}(::T) = axistrait(T)
+axistrait{T}(::Type{T}) = Unsupported
+axistrait{name, T}(::Type{Axis{name, T}}) = axistrait(T)
+axistrait{T<:AbstractVector}(::Type{T}) = _axistrait_el(eltype(T))
+_axistrait_el{T<:Union{Number, Dates.AbstractTime}}(::Type{T}) = Dimensional
+_axistrait_el{T<:Union{Symbol, AbstractString}}(::Type{T}) = Categorical
+_axistrait_el{T}(::Type{T}) = Unsupported
 
 checkaxis(ax::Axis) = checkaxis(ax.val)
 checkaxis(ax) = checkaxis(axistrait(ax), ax)
diff --git a/src/sortedvector.jl b/src/sortedvector.jl
index 4338769..72ee992 100644
--- a/src/sortedvector.jl
+++ b/src/sortedvector.jl
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ Base.size(v::SortedVector) = size(v.data)
 Base.size(v::SortedVector, i) = size(v.data, i)
 Base.indices(v::SortedVector) = indices(v.data)
 
-axistrait(::SortedVector) = Dimensional
+axistrait{T}(::Type{SortedVector{T}}) = Dimensional
 checkaxis(::SortedVector) = nothing
 
 
diff --git a/test/core.jl b/test/core.jl
index bf12b7b..a2fdf10 100644
--- a/test/core.jl
+++ b/test/core.jl
@@ -187,9 +187,13 @@ A = @inferred(AxisArray(vals, Axis{:Timestamp}(dt-Dates.Hour(2):Dates.Hour(1):dt
 @test A[dt, :].data == vals[3, :]
 
 @test AxisArrays.axistrait(A.axes[1]) == AxisArrays.Dimensional
+@test AxisArrays.axistrait(typeof(A.axes[1])) == AxisArrays.Dimensional
 @test AxisArrays.axistrait(A.axes[1].val) == AxisArrays.Dimensional
+@test AxisArrays.axistrait(typeof(A.axes[1].val)) == AxisArrays.Dimensional
 @test AxisArrays.axistrait(A.axes[2]) == AxisArrays.Categorical
+@test AxisArrays.axistrait(typeof(A.axes[2])) == AxisArrays.Categorical
 @test AxisArrays.axistrait(A.axes[2].val) == AxisArrays.Categorical
+@test AxisArrays.axistrait(typeof(A.axes[2].val)) == AxisArrays.Categorical
 
 @test_throws ArgumentError AxisArrays.checkaxis(Axis{:x}(10:-1:1))
 @test_throws ArgumentError AxisArrays.checkaxis(10:-1:1)