diff --git a/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs b/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs
index b405e3ed31..89fe9a7a91 100644
--- a/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-engine/src/eval.rs
@@ -42,11 +42,17 @@ pub fn eval_call(
 
         let mut callee_stack = caller_stack.gather_captures(engine_state, &block.captures);
 
-        for (param_idx, param) in decl
+        for (param_idx, (param, required)) in decl
             .signature()
             .required_positional
             .iter()
-            .chain(decl.signature().optional_positional.iter())
+            .map(|p| (p, true))
+            .chain(
+                decl.signature()
+                    .optional_positional
+                    .iter()
+                    .map(|p| (p, false)),
+            )
             .enumerate()
         {
             let var_id = param
@@ -55,6 +61,14 @@ pub fn eval_call(
 
             if let Some(arg) = call.positional_nth(param_idx) {
                 let result = eval_expression(engine_state, caller_stack, arg)?;
+                if required && !result.get_type().is_subtype(&param.shape.to_type()) {
+                    return Err(ShellError::CantConvert {
+                        to_type: param.shape.to_type().to_string(),
+                        from_type: result.get_type().to_string(),
+                        span: result.span(),
+                        help: None,
+                    });
+                }
                 callee_stack.add_var(var_id, result);
             } else if let Some(value) = &param.default_value {
                 callee_stack.add_var(var_id, value.to_owned());
diff --git a/crates/nu-protocol/src/ty.rs b/crates/nu-protocol/src/ty.rs
index ac22e7e634..729d8c1eb7 100644
--- a/crates/nu-protocol/src/ty.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-protocol/src/ty.rs
@@ -40,11 +40,11 @@ impl Type {
         let is_subtype_collection = |this: &[(String, Type)], that: &[(String, Type)]| {
             if this.is_empty() || that.is_empty() {
                 true
-            } else if this.len() > that.len() {
+            } else if this.len() < that.len() {
                 false
             } else {
-                this.iter().all(|(col_x, ty_x)| {
-                    if let Some((_, ty_y)) = that.iter().find(|(col_y, _)| col_x == col_y) {
+                that.iter().all(|(col_y, ty_y)| {
+                    if let Some((_, ty_x)) = this.iter().find(|(col_x, _)| col_x == col_y) {
                         ty_x.is_subtype(ty_y)
                     } else {
                         false
diff --git a/crates/nu-std/std/log.nu b/crates/nu-std/std/log.nu
index ebb7152970..5c56e9212a 100644
--- a/crates/nu-std/std/log.nu
+++ b/crates/nu-std/std/log.nu
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ export def critical [
     --short (-s) # Whether to use a short prefix
     --format (-f): string # A format (for further reference: help std log)
 ] {
+    let format = $format | default ""
     handle-log $message (log-types | get CRITICAL)  $format $short
 }
 
@@ -194,6 +195,7 @@ export def error [
     --short (-s) # Whether to use a short prefix
     --format (-f): string # A format (for further reference: help std log)
 ] {
+    let format = $format | default ""
     handle-log $message (log-types | get ERROR) $format $short
 }
 
@@ -203,6 +205,7 @@ export def warning [
     --short (-s) # Whether to use a short prefix
     --format (-f): string # A format (for further reference: help std log)
 ] {
+    let format = $format | default ""
     handle-log $message (log-types | get WARNING) $format $short
 }
 
@@ -212,6 +215,7 @@ export def info [
     --short (-s) # Whether to use a short prefix
     --format (-f): string # A format (for further reference: help std log)
 ] {
+    let format = $format | default ""
     handle-log $message (log-types | get INFO) $format $short
 }
 
@@ -221,6 +225,7 @@ export def debug [
     --short (-s) # Whether to use a short prefix
     --format (-f): string # A format (for further reference: help std log)
 ] {
+    let format = $format | default ""
     handle-log $message (log-types | get DEBUG) $format $short
 }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs b/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs
index d2a562b1f6..93b2c83628 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs
+++ b/src/tests/test_custom_commands.rs
@@ -214,3 +214,18 @@ fn infinite_recursion_does_not_panic() {
         "#);
     assert!(actual.err.contains("Recursion limit (50) reached"));
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn type_check_for_during_eval() -> TestResult {
+    fail_test(
+        r#"def spam [foo: string] { $foo | describe }; def outer [--foo: string] { spam $foo }; outer"#,
+        "can't convert nothing to string",
+    )
+}
+#[test]
+fn type_check_for_during_eval2() -> TestResult {
+    fail_test(
+        r#"def spam [foo: string] { $foo | describe }; def outer [--foo: any] { spam $foo }; outer"#,
+        "can't convert nothing to string",
+    )
+}
diff --git a/src/tests/test_type_check.rs b/src/tests/test_type_check.rs
index 2590997d7f..ed912f8fff 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_type_check.rs
+++ b/src/tests/test_type_check.rs
@@ -114,6 +114,14 @@ fn record_subtyping_allows_general_inner() -> TestResult {
     )
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn record_subtyping_works() -> TestResult {
+    run_test(
+        r#"def merge_records [other: record<bar: int>] { "" }; merge_records {"bar": 3, "foo": 4}"#,
+        "",
+    )
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn transpose_into_load_env() -> TestResult {
     run_test(