diff --git a/base/abstractarray.jl b/base/abstractarray.jl
index 169191a758ad7..bebba8a13f89d 100644
--- a/base/abstractarray.jl
+++ b/base/abstractarray.jl
@@ -1592,7 +1592,7 @@ end
 mapslices(f::Function, A::AbstractArray, dims) = mapslices(f, A, [dims...])
 function mapslices(f::Function, A::AbstractArray, dims::AbstractVector)
     if isempty(dims)
-        return A
+        return map(f,A)
     end
 
     dimsA = [size(A)...]
diff --git a/test/arrayops.jl b/test/arrayops.jl
index 90494a1c67955..eb51a53d9b068 100644
--- a/test/arrayops.jl
+++ b/test/arrayops.jl
@@ -628,6 +628,12 @@ begin
     b = mapslices(sum, ones(2,3,4), [1,2])
     @test size(b) === (1,1,4)
     @test all(b.==6)
+
+    # issue #5141
+    c1 = mapslices(x-> maximum(-x), a, [])
+    @test c1 == -a
+    c2 = mapslices(x-> maximum(-x), a, [1,2])
+    @test c2 == maximum(-a)
 end