diff --git a/src/SymEngine.jl b/src/SymEngine.jl
index 8a1ebaa..e7be3cb 100644
--- a/src/SymEngine.jl
+++ b/src/SymEngine.jl
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ include("calculus.jl")
 include("recipes.jl")
 include("dense-matrix.jl")
 
+include("deprecated.jl")
 function __init__()
     init_constants()
 end
diff --git a/src/deprecated.jl b/src/deprecated.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3aa6733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/deprecated.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+function real(::Val{<:Any}, x)
+    if is_constant(x)
+        real(evalf(x)) # keep this after removing deprecation
+    else
+        Base.depwarn(
+            """The `real` method for a symbol is deprecated. Its use is for
+    numeric values only.""",
+            :real; force=true
+        )
+        x
+    end
+end
+
+function imag(::Val{<:Any},x)
+    if is_constant(x)
+        imag(evalf(x)) # keep this after removing deprecation
+    else
+        Base.depwarn(
+            """The `imag` method for a symbol is deprecated. Its use is for
+    numeric values only.""",
+            :imag; force=true
+        )
+         throw(InexactError()) # wrong as it was; seems like it should have been Basic(0)
+    end
+end
diff --git a/src/mathops.jl b/src/mathops.jl
index 9a0611a..acfc8f1 100644
--- a/src/mathops.jl
+++ b/src/mathops.jl
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ function init_constants()
     @init_constant NAN nan
 end
 
+RealConstants = (PI, E, EulerGamma, Catalan, GoldenRatio, oo)
+
 ## ## Conversions
 Base.convert(::Type{Basic}, x::Irrational{:π}) = PI
 Base.convert(::Type{Basic}, x::Irrational{:e}) = E
diff --git a/src/numerics.jl b/src/numerics.jl
index 74ea3a3..1e1a7a3 100644
--- a/src/numerics.jl
+++ b/src/numerics.jl
@@ -207,22 +207,56 @@ function _imag(b::Basic)
     return a
 end
 
-real(x::Basic) = Basic(real(SymEngine.BasicType(x)))
-real(x::SymEngine.BasicType) = x
-
-imag(x::Basic) = Basic(imag(SymEngine.BasicType(x)))
-imag(x::BasicType{Val{:Integer}}) = Basic(0)
-imag(x::BasicType{Val{:RealDouble}}) = Basic(0)
-imag(x::BasicType{Val{:RealMPFR}}) = Basic(0)
-imag(x::BasicType{Val{:Rational}}) = Basic(0)
-imag(x::SymEngine.BasicType) = throw(InexactError())
-
-# Because of the definitions above, `real(x) == x` for `x::Basic`
-# such as `x = symbols("x")`. Thus, it is consistent to define the
-conj(x::Basic) = Basic(conj(SymEngine.BasicType(x)))
-# To allow future extension, we define the fallback on `BasicType``.
-conj(x::BasicType) = 2 * real(x.x) - x.x
 
+real(x::Basic) = real(get_symengine_class_val(x), x)
+real(::T, x) where {T<:RealNumberType} = x
+real(::T, x) where {T<:ComplexNumberType} = _real(x)
+function real(::Val{:Constant}, x)
+    any(==(x), RealConstants) && return Basic(x)
+    x == NaN && return x
+    x == IM && return zero(x)
+    x == zoo && return oo
+end
+#=
+function real(::Val{<:Any},x)
+    if is_constant(x)
+        real(evalf(x))
+    else
+        throw(ArgumentError("The `real` method is only defined for numeric constants"))
+    end
+end
+=#
+
+imag(x::Basic) = imag(get_symengine_class_val(x), x)
+imag(::T, x) where {T<:RealNumberType} = Basic(zero(x))
+imag(::T, x) where {T<:ComplexNumberType} = _imag(x)
+function imag(::Val{:Constant}, x)
+    any(==(x),  RealConstants) && return Basic(x)
+    x == NAN && return x
+    x == IM && return zero(x)
+    x == zoo && return oo
+end
+#= after deprecation removed
+function imag(::Val{<:Any},x)
+    if is_constant(x)
+        imag(evalf(x))
+    else
+        throw(ArgumentError("The `imag` method is only defined for numeric constants"))
+    end
+end
+=#
+
+conj(x::Basic) = conj(get_symengine_class_val(x), x)
+conj(::T,x) where {T<:RealNumberType} = x
+conj(::T,x) where {T<:ComplexNumberType} = _real(x) - _imag(x)*IM
+function conj(::Val{:Constant}, x)
+    any(==(x), RealConstants) && return x
+    x == NAN && return x
+    x == IM && return zero(x)
+    x == zoo && return oo
+end
+
+conj(::Val{<:Any}, x) = 2*real(x) - x
 
 ## For generic programming in Julia
 float(x::Basic) = float(N(x))
diff --git a/src/types.jl b/src/types.jl
index 86c6fb2..318fc41 100644
--- a/src/types.jl
+++ b/src/types.jl
@@ -241,10 +241,15 @@ convert(::Type{T}, val::T) where {T<:BasicType} = val
 real_number_types = [:Integer, :RealDouble, :Rational, :RealMPFR]
 complex_number_types = [:Complex, :ComplexDouble, :ComplexMPC]
 number_types = vcat(real_number_types, complex_number_types)
+
 BasicNumber = Union{[SymEngine.BasicType{Val{i}} for i in number_types]...}
 BasicRealNumber = Union{[SymEngine.BasicType{Val{i}} for i in real_number_types]...}
 BasicComplexNumber = Union{[SymEngine.BasicType{Val{i}} for i in complex_number_types]...}
 
+NumberType = Union{(Val{i} for i in number_types)...}
+RealNumberType = Union{(Val{i} for i in real_number_types)...}
+ComplexNumberType = Union{(Val{i} for i in complex_number_types)...}
+
 op_types = [:Mul, :Add, :Pow, :Symbol, :Const]
 BasicOp = Union{[SymEngine.BasicType{Val{i}} for i in op_types]...}
 
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 2336e45..ec36ae7 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -386,6 +386,24 @@ expr = x^3 + 3*x^2*y + 3*x*y^2 + y^3 + 1
     end
 end
 
+@testset "real/imag/conj" begin
+    @test real(Basic(1.5)) == 1.5
+    @test isa(real(2 + 3IM), Basic)
+    @test real(2 + 3IM) == 2
+
+    @test imag(Basic(1.5)) == 0
+    @test isa(imag(2 + 3IM), Basic)
+    @test imag(2 + 3IM) == Basic(3)
+
+    for a ∈ (1, 1.0, 1//2, 2im, 3.14*im,  1 + im, 1.2 + 3im) # , pi
+        for λ ∈ (real, imag, conj)
+            u,v = Basic(λ(a)), λ(Basic(a))
+            @test abs(u-v) == 0  # avoid Basic(0) ≠ Basic(0.0)
+        end
+    end
+
+end
+
 @test round(Basic(3.14)) == 3.0
 @test round(Basic(3.14); digits=1) == 3.1
 
@@ -415,4 +433,5 @@ end
 	@test deserialized == data
 end
 
+include("test-deprecated.jl")
 VERSION >= v"1.9.0" && include("test-allocations.jl")
diff --git a/test/test-dense-matrix.jl b/test/test-dense-matrix.jl
index 8ca1e5a..42ad50c 100644
--- a/test/test-dense-matrix.jl
+++ b/test/test-dense-matrix.jl
@@ -44,10 +44,6 @@ out = M \ b
 
 @test SymEngine.dense_matrix_eye(2,2,0) == Basic[1 0; 0 1]
 
-# dot product
-@test dot(x, x) == x^2
-@test dot([1, x, 0], [y, -2, 1]) == y - 2x
-
 @testset "dense matrix" begin
     @vars a b c d x y
     A = [a b; c d]
@@ -55,4 +51,4 @@ out = M \ b
     res = A \ B
     @test res == [(x - b*(y - c*x/a)/(d - b*c/a))/a,
            (y - c*x/a)/(d - b*c/a)]
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/test/test-deprecated.jl b/test/test-deprecated.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f3059e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-deprecated.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+using SymEngine
+using LinearAlgebra
+using Test
+
+@testset "real/imag/conj deprecation" begin
+    @vars x y
+    # dot product
+    @test dot(x, x) == x^2
+    @test dot([1, x, 0], [y, -2, 1]) == y - 2x
+
+
+    @vars x
+    for ex = (x, x^2)
+        @test real(ex) == ex
+        @test_throws MethodError imag(ex)
+        @test conj(ex) == ex
+    end
+end