diff --git a/R/abstract_stat_slabinterval.R b/R/abstract_stat_slabinterval.R
index 9fc96bfe..f92b48ec 100644
--- a/R/abstract_stat_slabinterval.R
+++ b/R/abstract_stat_slabinterval.R
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ AbstractStatSlabinterval = ggproto("AbstractStatSlabinterval", AbstractStat,
   # @param trans the scale transformation object applied to the coordinate space
   # @param ... other stat parameters created by children of stat_slabinterval
   compute_limits = function(self, data, trans, ...) {
-    data.frame(.lower = NA, .upper = NA)
+    data_frame0(.lower = NA, .upper = NA)
   },
 
   # Compute the function that defines the slab. That takes a data frame of
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ AbstractStatSlabinterval = ggproto("AbstractStatSlabinterval", AbstractStat,
   # @param trans the scale transformation object applied to the coordinate space
   # @param ... other stat parameters created by children of stat_slabinterval
   compute_slab = function(self, data, scales, trans, input, ...) {
-    data.frame()
+    data_frame0()
   },
 
   # Compute interval(s). Takes a data frame of aesthetics and a `.width`
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ AbstractStatSlabinterval = ggproto("AbstractStatSlabinterval", AbstractStat,
     .width, na.rm,
     ...
   ) {
-    if (is.null(point_interval)) return(data.frame())
+    if (is.null(point_interval)) return(data_frame0())
 
     define_orientation_variables(orientation)
 
@@ -128,9 +128,9 @@ AbstractStatSlabinterval = ggproto("AbstractStatSlabinterval", AbstractStat,
     is_missing = is.na(data$dist)
     if (any(is_missing)) {
       data = data[!is_missing, ]
-      remove_missing(data.frame(dist = ifelse(is_missing, NA_real_, 0)), na.rm, "dist", name = "stat_slabinterval")
+      remove_missing(data_frame0(dist = ifelse(is_missing, NA_real_, 0)), na.rm, "dist", name = "stat_slabinterval")
     }
-    if (nrow(data) == 0) return(data.frame())
+    if (nrow(data) == 0) return(data_frame0())
 
 
     # figure out coordinate transformation
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ AbstractStatSlabinterval = ggproto("AbstractStatSlabinterval", AbstractStat,
           ...
         )
       } else {
-        data.frame(.input = numeric())
+        data_frame0(.input = numeric())
       }
       i_data = self$compute_interval(d,
         trans = trans,
diff --git a/R/binning_methods.R b/R/binning_methods.R
index be6662e3..1463786a 100644
--- a/R/binning_methods.R
+++ b/R/binning_methods.R
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ bin_dots = function(x, y, binwidth,
   side = match.arg(side)
   orientation = match.arg(orientation)
 
-  d = data.frame(x = x, y = y)
+  d = data_frame0(x = x, y = y)
 
   # after this point `x` and `y` refer to column names in `d` according
   # to the orientation
diff --git a/R/curve_interval.R b/R/curve_interval.R
index fc462ee1..d5c0cfd7 100755
--- a/R/curve_interval.R
+++ b/R/curve_interval.R
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ curve_interval.matrix = function(
   check_along_is_null(.along)
 
   curve_interval(
-    data.frame(.value = posterior::rvar(.data)), .value,
+    data_frame0(.value = posterior::rvar(.data)), .value,
     .width = .width, na.rm = na.rm,
     .interval = .interval
   )
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ curve_interval.rvar = function(
   check_along_is_null(.along)
 
   curve_interval(
-    data.frame(.value = .data), .value,
+    data_frame0(.value = .data), .value,
     .width = .width, na.rm = na.rm,
     .interval = .interval
   )
diff --git a/R/geom_slabinterval.R b/R/geom_slabinterval.R
index 63149acd..5152c033 100755
--- a/R/geom_slabinterval.R
+++ b/R/geom_slabinterval.R
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ rescale_slab_thickness = function(
   s_data = ggplot2::remove_missing(s_data, na.rm, c(height, "justification", "scale"), name = name, finite = TRUE)
   # side is a character vector, thus need finite = FALSE for it; x/y can be Inf here
   s_data = ggplot2::remove_missing(s_data, na.rm, c(x, y, "side"), name = name)
-  if (nrow(s_data) == 0) return(list(data = s_data, subguide_params = data.frame()))
+  if (nrow(s_data) == 0) return(list(data = s_data, subguide_params = data_frame0()))
 
   min_height = min(s_data[[height]])
 
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ rescale_slab_thickness = function(
 
     thickness_scale = d$scale[[1]] * min_height
 
-    subguide_params = data.frame(
+    subguide_params = data_frame0(
       group = d$group[[1]],
       side = d$size[[1]],
       justification = d$justification[[1]],
diff --git a/R/guide_rampbar.R b/R/guide_rampbar.R
index a14100ad..146fe5b1 100755
--- a/R/guide_rampbar.R
+++ b/R/guide_rampbar.R
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ guide_rampbar = function(..., to = "gray65", available_aes = c("fill_ramp", "col
       if (length(bar) == 0) {
         bar = unique(limits)
       }
-      bar = data_frame(
+      bar = data_frame0(
         colour = scale$map(bar),
         value  = bar,
         .size  = length(bar)
diff --git a/R/point_interval.R b/R/point_interval.R
index f4609773..daf0ca08 100644
--- a/R/point_interval.R
+++ b/R/point_interval.R
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ point_interval.default = function(.data, ..., .width = .95, .point = median, .in
         map_dfr_(seq_len(nrow(row)), function(j) {
           # get row of `data` with grouping factors
           # faster version of row_j = row[j, , drop = FALSE]
-          row_j = tibble::new_tibble(lapply(row, vctrs::vec_slice, j), nrow = 1)
+          row_j = new_data_frame(lapply(row, vctrs::vec_slice, j), n = 1L)
           row.names(row_j) = NULL
           draws_j = draws[[j]]
 
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ point_interval.numeric = function(.data, ..., .width = .95, .point = median, .in
 
   result = map_dfr_(.width, function(p) {
     interval = .interval(data, .width = p, na.rm = na.rm)
-    data.frame(
+    data_frame0(
       y = .point(data, na.rm = na.rm),
       ymin = interval[, 1],
       ymax = interval[, 2],
diff --git a/R/stat_dotsinterval.R b/R/stat_dotsinterval.R
index 4e4c5668..a57e67de 100755
--- a/R/stat_dotsinterval.R
+++ b/R/stat_dotsinterval.R
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ compute_slab_dots = function(
 
   dist = data$dist
   if (distr_is_missing(dist)) {
-    return(data.frame(.input = NA_real_, f = NA_real_, n = NA_integer_))
+    return(data_frame0(.input = NA_real_, f = NA_real_, n = NA_integer_))
   }
 
   quantiles = quantiles %||% NA
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ compute_slab_dots = function(
     se = 0
   }
 
-  out = data.frame(
+  out = data_frame0(
     .input = input,
     f = 1,
     n = length(input)
diff --git a/R/stat_slabinterval.R b/R/stat_slabinterval.R
index 90478c0e..7863768f 100755
--- a/R/stat_slabinterval.R
+++ b/R/stat_slabinterval.R
@@ -16,19 +16,19 @@ compute_limits_slabinterval = function(
 ) {
   dist = check_one_dist(data$dist)
   if (distr_is_missing(dist)) {
-    return(data.frame(.lower = NA, .upper = NA))
+    return(data_frame0(.lower = NA, .upper = NA))
   }
 
   if (distr_is_factor_like(dist)) {
     # limits on factor-like dists are determined by the scale, which will
     # have been set earlier (in layer_slabinterval()), so we don't have to
     # do it here
-    return(data.frame(.lower = NA, .upper = NA))
+    return(data_frame0(.lower = NA, .upper = NA))
   }
 
   if (distr_is_constant(dist)) {
     .median = distr_quantile(dist)(0.5)
-    return(data.frame(.lower = .median, .upper = .median))
+    return(data_frame0(.lower = .median, .upper = .median))
   }
 
   if (distr_is_sample(dist)) {
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ compute_limits_slabinterval = function(
   lower_limit = min(quantile_fun(p_limits[[1]]))
   upper_limit = max(quantile_fun(p_limits[[2]]))
 
-  data.frame(
+  data_frame0(
     .lower = lower_limit,
     .upper = upper_limit
   )
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ compute_limits_sample = function(x, trans, trim, adjust, ..., density = "bounded
   # determine limits of data based on the density estimator
   x = trans$transform(x)
   x_range = range(density(x, n = 2, range_only = TRUE, trim = trim, adjust = adjust, weights = weights)$x)
-  data.frame(
+  data_frame0(
     .lower = trans$inverse(x_range[[1]]),
     .upper = trans$inverse(x_range[[2]])
   )
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ compute_slab_slabinterval = function(
   dist = data$dist
   # TODO: add support for multivariate distributions
   if (distr_is_missing(dist) || distr_is_multivariate(dist)) {
-    return(data.frame(.input = NA_real_, f = NA_real_, n = NA_integer_))
+    return(data_frame0(.input = NA_real_, f = NA_real_, n = NA_integer_))
   }
 
   # calculate pdf and cdf
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ compute_slab_slabinterval = function(
     cdf = cdf_fun(input)
   }
 
-  data.frame(
+  data_frame0(
     .input = input,
     f = get_slab_function(slab_type, list(pdf = pdf, cdf = cdf)),
     pdf = pdf,
@@ -191,7 +191,6 @@ compute_slab_sample = function(
   ...,
   weights = NULL
 ) {
-
   if (is.integer(x) || inherits(x, "mapped_discrete")) {
     # discrete variables are always displayed as histograms
     slab_type = "histogram"
@@ -207,7 +206,7 @@ compute_slab_sample = function(
     breaks = breaks, align = align, outline_bars = outline_bars,
     weights = weights
   )
-  slab_df = data.frame(
+  slab_df = data_frame0(
     .input = trans$inverse(d$x),
     pdf = d$y,
     cdf = d$cdf %||% weighted_ecdf(x, weights = weights)(d$x)
@@ -221,7 +220,7 @@ compute_slab_sample = function(
   if (expand[[1]]) {
     input_below_slab = input[input < min(slab_df$.input) - .Machine$double.eps]
     if (length(input_below_slab) > 0) {
-      slab_df = rbind(data.frame(
+      slab_df = rbind(data_frame0(
         .input = input_below_slab,
         pdf = 0,
         cdf = 0
@@ -231,7 +230,7 @@ compute_slab_sample = function(
   if (expand[[2]]) {
     input_above_slab = input[input > max(slab_df$.input) + .Machine$double.eps]
     if (length(input_above_slab) > 0) {
-      slab_df = rbind(slab_df, data.frame(
+      slab_df = rbind(slab_df, data_frame0(
         .input = input_above_slab,
         pdf = 0,
         cdf = 1
@@ -255,10 +254,10 @@ compute_interval_slabinterval = function(
   .width, na.rm,
   ...
 ) {
-  if (is.null(point_interval)) return(data.frame())
+  if (is.null(point_interval)) return(data_frame0())
   dist = data$dist
   if (distr_is_missing(dist)) {
-    return(data.frame(.value = NA_real_, .lower = NA_real_, .upper = NA_real_, .width = .width))
+    return(data_frame0(.value = NA_real_, .lower = NA_real_, .upper = NA_real_, .width = .width))
   }
 
   distr_point_interval(dist, point_interval, trans = trans, .width = .width, na.rm = na.rm)
@@ -624,7 +623,7 @@ StatSlabinterval = ggproto("StatSlabinterval", AbstractStatSlabinterval,
       # dist aesthetic is not provided but x aesthetic is, and x is not a dist
       # this means we need to wrap it as a weighted dist_sample
       data = summarise_by(data, c("PANEL", y, "group"), function(d) {
-        data.frame(dist = .dist_weighted_sample(list(trans$inverse(d[[x]])), list(d[["weight"]])))
+        data_frame0(dist = .dist_weighted_sample(list(trans$inverse(d[[x]])), list(d[["weight"]])))
       })
       data[[x]] = median(data$dist)
     }
diff --git a/R/stat_spike.R b/R/stat_spike.R
index 3ed67354..dc853647 100755
--- a/R/stat_spike.R
+++ b/R/stat_spike.R
@@ -113,15 +113,15 @@ compute_slab_spike = function(
   # needs to be a vector (e.g. in cases of interval functions
   # like qi() which return matrices)
   input = unlist(input_nested, use.names = FALSE, recursive = FALSE)
-  names(input) = rep(names(at), times = lengths(input_nested))
+  input_names = rep(names(at), times = lengths(input_nested))
 
   # evaluate functions
   pdf = pdf_fun(input)
   cdf = cdf_fun(input)
 
-  data.frame(
+  data_frame0(
     .input = input,
-    at = names(input),
+    at = input_names,
     f = if (length(input) > 0) get_slab_function(slab_type, list(pdf = pdf, cdf = cdf)),
     pdf = pdf,
     cdf = cdf,
diff --git a/R/subguide.R b/R/subguide.R
index f9d531bf..8b9a9126 100755
--- a/R/subguide.R
+++ b/R/subguide.R
@@ -298,12 +298,12 @@ draw_subguide_axis = function(
     position = axis_position
   )
   params = guide$params
-  params$key = data_frame(
+  params$key = data_frame0(
     !!aes := break_positions,
     .value = break_positions,
     .label = break_labels
   )
-  params$decor = data_frame(
+  params$decor = data_frame0(
     !!aes := c(0, 1),
     !!opp := if (axis_position %in% c("top", "right")) 0 else 1
   )
diff --git a/R/util.R b/R/util.R
index 86ebd86e..c4762ca9 100644
--- a/R/util.R
+++ b/R/util.R
@@ -136,6 +136,12 @@ check_na = function(x, na.rm) {
 
 # data frames -------------------------------------------------------------
 
+#' fast data frame creation
+#' @noRd
+data_frame0 = function(...) {
+  vctrs::data_frame(..., .name_repair = "minimal")
+}
+
 #' rename columns using a lookup table
 #' @param data data frame
 #' @param new_names lookup table of new column names, where names are
@@ -182,7 +188,7 @@ map_dfr_ = function(data, fun, ...) {
 row_map_dfr_ = function(data, fun, ...) {
   map_dfr_(seq_len(nrow(data)), function(row_i) {
     # faster version of row_df = data[row_i, , drop = FALSE]
-    row_df = tibble::new_tibble(lapply(data, vctrs::vec_slice, row_i), nrow = 1)
+    row_df = new_data_frame(lapply(data, vctrs::vec_slice, row_i), n = 1L)
     fun(row_df, ...)
   })
 }
@@ -221,7 +227,7 @@ dlply_ = function(data, groups, fun, ...) {
 
     lapply(group_is, function(group_i) {
       # faster version of row_df = data[group_i, , drop = FALSE]
-      row_df = tibble::new_tibble(lapply(data, vctrs::vec_slice, group_i), nrow = length(group_i))
+      row_df = new_data_frame(lapply(data, vctrs::vec_slice, group_i), n = length(group_i))
       fun(row_df, ...)
     })
   } else {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test.util.R b/tests/testthat/test.util.R
index e24aad30..1ab69708 100755
--- a/tests/testthat/test.util.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test.util.R
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 # Author: mjskay
 ###############################################################################
 
-library(dplyr)
+suppressPackageStartupMessages(suppressWarnings({
+  library(dplyr)
+}))
 
 
 test_that("all_names works", {
@@ -51,12 +53,21 @@ test_that("fct_rev_ works properly", {
 # dlply_ ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 test_that("dlply_ works properly", {
-  df = tibble(
+  df = data.frame(
     x = 1:8,
-    g = c(rep("a", 2), rep("(Missing)", 2), rep("(Missing)+", 2), rep(NA, 2))
+    g = c(rep("a", 2), rep("(Missing)", 2), rep("(Missing)+", 2), rep(NA, 2)),
+    stringsAsFactors = FALSE
   )
 
-  expect_equal(dlply_(df, "g", identity), list(df[3:4,], df[5:6,], df[1:2,], df[7:8,]))
+  expect_equal(
+    dlply_(df, "g", identity),
+    list(
+      new_data_frame(df[3:4,]),
+      new_data_frame(df[5:6,]),
+      new_data_frame(df[1:2,]),
+      new_data_frame(df[7:8,])
+    )
+  )
 
   expect_equal(dlply_(df, NULL, identity), list(df))