diff --git a/src/ltablib.cpp b/src/ltablib.cpp
index cb7f925b0c..757970dfa4 100644
--- a/src/ltablib.cpp
+++ b/src/ltablib.cpp
@@ -845,10 +845,11 @@ static int tcountvalues (lua_State *L) {
 static int tslice (lua_State *L) {
   luaL_checktype(L, 1, LUA_TTABLE);
 
-  lua_Integer idx_start = luaL_checkinteger(L, 2);
-  lua_Integer idx_end = luaL_checkinteger(L, 3);
   const lua_Integer l = luaL_len(L, 1);
 
+  lua_Integer idx_start = luaL_checkinteger(L, 2);
+  lua_Integer idx_end = luaL_optinteger(L, 3, l);
+
   if (idx_start < 0) {
     idx_start = l + idx_start + 1;
   }