diff --git a/ucl/builtins/strs_test.go b/ucl/builtins/strs_test.go
index 9545e0c..3fc4cf6 100644
--- a/ucl/builtins/strs_test.go
+++ b/ucl/builtins/strs_test.go
@@ -140,17 +140,17 @@ func TestStrs_Split(t *testing.T) {
 		want    any
 		wantErr bool
 	}{
-		{desc: "split 1", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" ","`, want: ucl.StringListObject{"1", "2", "3"}},
-		{desc: "split 2", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" ";"`, want: ucl.StringListObject{"1,2,3"}},
-		{desc: "split 3", eval: `strs:split "" ";"`, want: ucl.StringListObject{""}},
-		{desc: "split 4", eval: `strs:split " " ";"`, want: ucl.StringListObject{" "}},
+		{desc: "split 1", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" ","`, want: []string{"1", "2", "3"}},
+		{desc: "split 2", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" ";"`, want: []string{"1,2,3"}},
+		{desc: "split 3", eval: `strs:split "" ";"`, want: []string{""}},
+		{desc: "split 4", eval: `strs:split " " ";"`, want: []string{" "}},
 
-		{desc: "split by char 1", eval: `strs:split "123"`, want: ucl.StringListObject{"1", "2", "3"}},
+		{desc: "split by char 1", eval: `strs:split "123"`, want: []string{"1", "2", "3"}},
 
-		{desc: "split max 1", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" "," -max 2`, want: ucl.StringListObject{"1", "2,3"}},
-		{desc: "split max 2", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" "," -max 5`, want: ucl.StringListObject{"1", "2", "3"}},
+		{desc: "split max 1", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" "," -max 2`, want: []string{"1", "2,3"}},
+		{desc: "split max 2", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" "," -max 5`, want: []string{"1", "2", "3"}},
 
-		{desc: "split by char max 1", eval: `strs:split "12345" -max 3`, want: ucl.StringListObject{"1", "2", "345"}},
+		{desc: "split by char max 1", eval: `strs:split "12345" -max 3`, want: []string{"1", "2", "345"}},
 
 		{desc: "err 1", eval: `strs:split "1,2,3" -max []`, wantErr: true},
 	}
diff --git a/ucl/inst.go b/ucl/inst.go
index 74dbdcf..e47873f 100644
--- a/ucl/inst.go
+++ b/ucl/inst.go
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func (inst *Inst) Eval(ctx context.Context, expr string) (any, error) {
 
 	goRes, ok := toGoValue(res)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil, ErrNotConvertable
+		return res, nil
 	}
 
 	return goRes, nil
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ func (n nativePseudoVarHandler) set(ctx context.Context, name string, v Object)
 
 	gv, ok := toGoValue(v)
 	if !ok {
-		return errors.New("cannot set non-matching type")
+		return mpvh.Set(ctx, v)
 	}
 
 	return mpvh.Set(ctx, gv)
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ func (n nativeMissingPseudoVarHandler) set(ctx context.Context, name string, v O
 
 	gv, ok := toGoValue(v)
 	if !ok {
-		return errors.New("cannot set non-matching type")
+		return mpvh.Set(ctx, name, v)
 	}
 
 	return mpvh.Set(ctx, name, gv)