diff --git a/include/json/value.h b/include/json/value.h
index 18355d0..c4169b4 100644
--- a/include/json/value.h
+++ b/include/json/value.h
@@ -400,8 +400,7 @@ Json::Value obj_value(Json::objectValue); // {}
       O(n) expensive operations.
       Update 'removed' iff removed.
       (This is a better pattern than removeMember().)
-      JSON_FAIL if !isValidIndex(i) or if not arrayObject
-      \return true iff removed
+      \return true iff removed (no exceptions)
   */
   bool removeIndex(ArrayIndex i, Value* removed);
 
diff --git a/src/lib_json/json_value.cpp b/src/lib_json/json_value.cpp
index aa9bfb4..f9e733f 100644
--- a/src/lib_json/json_value.cpp
+++ b/src/lib_json/json_value.cpp
@@ -1018,12 +1018,32 @@ Value Value::removeMember(const std::string& key) {
   return removeMember(key.c_str());
 }
 
-bool Value::removeIndex(ArrayIndex i, Value* removed) {
-  JSON_ASSERT_MESSAGE(this->type_ == arrayValue,
-                      "in Json::Value::removeIndex(): requires arrayValue");
-  JSON_ASSERT_MESSAGE(this->isValidIndex(i),
-      "invalid index i=" << i << " for array of size " << this->size());
+bool Value::removeIndex(ArrayIndex index, Value* removed) {
+  if (this->type_ != arrayValue) {
+    return false;
+  }
+#ifdef JSON_VALUE_USE_INTERNAL_MAP
+  JSON_FAIL_MESSAGE("removeIndex is not implemented for ValueInternalArray.");
+  return false;
+#else
+  CZString key(index);
+  ObjectValues::iterator it = this->value_.map_->find(key);
+  if (it == this->value_.map_->end()) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  *removed = it->second;
+  ArrayIndex oldSize = this->size();
+  // shift left all items left, into the place of the "removed"
+  for (ArrayIndex i=index; i<oldSize-1; i++){
+    CZString key(i);
+    (*this->value_.map_)[key] = (*this)[i+1];
+  }
+  // erase the last one ("leftover")
+  CZString keyLast(oldSize-1);
+  ObjectValues::iterator itLast = this->value_.map_->find(keyLast);
+  this->value_.map_->erase(itLast);
   return true;
+#endif
 }
 
 #ifdef JSON_USE_CPPTL