diff --git a/base/inference.jl b/base/inference.jl
index b70485c24339f..713c7b1b810c8 100644
--- a/base/inference.jl
+++ b/base/inference.jl
@@ -2798,21 +2798,13 @@ function tmerge(@nospecialize(typea), @nospecialize(typeb))
     if !(isa(typea,Type) || isa(typea,TypeVar)) || !(isa(typeb,Type) || isa(typeb,TypeVar))
         return Any
     end
-    if (typea <: Tuple) && (typeb <: Tuple)
-        if isa(typea, DataType) && isa(typeb, DataType) && length(typea.parameters) == length(typeb.parameters) && !isvatuple(typea) && !isvatuple(typeb)
-            return typejoin(typea, typeb)
-        end
-        if isa(typea, Union) || isa(typeb, Union) || (isa(typea,DataType) && length(typea.parameters)>3) ||
-            (isa(typeb,DataType) && length(typeb.parameters)>3)
-            # widen tuples faster (see #6704), but not too much, to make sure we can infer
-            # e.g. (t::Union{Tuple{Bool},Tuple{Bool,Int}})[1]
-            return Tuple
-        end
-    end
     u = Union{typea, typeb}
-    if unionlen(u) > MAX_TYPEUNION_LEN || type_too_complex(u, MAX_TYPE_DEPTH)
-        # don't let type unions get too big
-        # TODO: something smarter, like a common supertype
+    if unionlen(u) > MAX_TYPEUNION_LEN
+        u = typejoin(typea, typeb)
+    end
+    if type_too_complex(u, MAX_TYPE_DEPTH)
+        # helps convergence speed (large types that are changing value become very slow to
+        # work with very quickly)
         return Any
     end
     return u
diff --git a/test/inference.jl b/test/inference.jl
index c04c6b8c6dcda..aa43d03da8e2f 100644
--- a/test/inference.jl
+++ b/test/inference.jl
@@ -1291,3 +1291,8 @@ let T1 = Array{Float64}, T2 = Array{_1,2} where _1
     rt = Base.return_types(g, (Union{Ref{Array{Float64}}, Ref{Array{Float32}}},))[1]
     @test rt >: Union{Type{Array{Float64}}, Type{Array{Float32}}}
 end
+
+f_23077(x) = (Int8(0), Int16(0), Int32(0), Int64(0))[x]
+@test Base.return_types(f_23077, Tuple{Int})[1] <: Signed
+g_23077(x,y,z) = x ? y ? z ? (1,) : (1,1.0) : (1,1) : (1,1.0,1)
+@test Base.return_types(g_23077, Tuple{Bool,Bool,Bool})[1] <: Tuple{Int,Vararg{Real}}