diff --git a/docs/source/caching/cache-field-behavior.md b/docs/source/caching/cache-field-behavior.md
index 7d8672dd78b..654a3b50545 100644
--- a/docs/source/caching/cache-field-behavior.md
+++ b/docs/source/caching/cache-field-behavior.md
@@ -336,7 +336,8 @@ const cache = new InMemoryCache({
           merge(existing: any[], incoming: any[], { args }) {
             const merged = existing ? existing.slice(0) : [];
             // Insert the incoming elements in the right places, according to args.
-            for (let i = args.offset; i < args.offset + args.limit; ++i) {
+            const end = args.offset + Math.min(args.limit, incoming.length);
+            for (let i = args.offset; i < end; ++i) {
               merged[i] = incoming[i - args.offset];
             }
             return merged;
@@ -346,10 +347,16 @@ const cache = new InMemoryCache({
             // If we read the field before any data has been written to the
             // cache, this function will return undefined, which correctly
             // indicates that the field is missing.
-            return existing && existing.slice(
+            const page = existing && existing.slice(
               args.offset,
               args.offset + args.limit,
             );
+            // If we ask for a page outside the bounds of the existing array,
+            // page.length will be 0, and we should return undefined instead of
+            // the empty array.
+            if (page && page.length > 0) {
+              return page;
+            }
           },
         },
       },
@@ -394,10 +401,13 @@ const cache = new InMemoryCache({
               const afterIndex = existing.findIndex(
                 task => args.afterId === readField("id", task));
               if (afterIndex >= 0) {
-                return existing.slice(
+                const page = existing.slice(
                   afterIndex + 1,
                   afterIndex + 1 + args.limit,
                 );
+                if (page && page.length > 0) {
+                  return page;
+                }
               }
             }
           },
diff --git a/src/cache/inmemory/policies.ts b/src/cache/inmemory/policies.ts
index a3ea1c0606a..bbc39896481 100644
--- a/src/cache/inmemory/policies.ts
+++ b/src/cache/inmemory/policies.ts
@@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ export type TypePolicy = {
 
   fields?: {
     [fieldName: string]:
-      | FieldPolicy<StoreValue>
-      | FieldReadFunction<StoreValue>;
+      | FieldPolicy<any>
+      | FieldReadFunction<any>;
   }
 };
 
@@ -88,8 +88,17 @@ type KeyArgsFunction = (
   },
 ) => ReturnType<IdGetter>;
 
+// The Readonly<T> type only really works for object types, since it marks
+// all of the object's properties as readonly, but there are many cases when
+// a generic type parameter like TExisting might be a string or some other
+// primitive type, in which case we need to avoid wrapping it with Readonly.
+// SafeReadonly<string> collapses to just string, which makes string
+// assignable to SafeReadonly<any>, whereas string is not assignable to
+// Readonly<any>, somewhat surprisingly.
+type SafeReadonly<T> = T extends object ? Readonly<T> : T;
+
 export type FieldPolicy<
-  TExisting,
+  TExisting = any,
   TIncoming = TExisting,
   TReadResult = TExisting,
 > = {
@@ -140,7 +149,7 @@ interface FieldFunctionOptions {
   readField<T = StoreValue>(
     nameOrField: string | FieldNode,
     foreignObjOrRef?: StoreObject | Reference,
-  ): Readonly<T>;
+  ): SafeReadonly<T>;
 
   // A handy place to put field-specific data that you want to survive
   // across multiple read function calls. Useful for field-level caching,
@@ -148,7 +157,7 @@ interface FieldFunctionOptions {
   storage: StorageType;
 }
 
-export type FieldReadFunction<TExisting, TReadResult = TExisting> = (
+export type FieldReadFunction<TExisting = any, TReadResult = TExisting> = (
   // When reading a field, one often needs to know about any existing
   // value stored for that field. If the field is read before any value
   // has been written to the cache, this existing parameter will be
@@ -157,15 +166,15 @@ export type FieldReadFunction<TExisting, TReadResult = TExisting> = (
   // than one of the named options) because that makes it possible for the
   // developer to annotate it with a type, without also having to provide
   // a whole new type for the options object.
-  existing: Readonly<TExisting> | undefined,
+  existing: SafeReadonly<TExisting> | undefined,
   options: FieldFunctionOptions,
 ) => TReadResult;
 
-export type FieldMergeFunction<TExisting, TIncoming = TExisting> = (
-  existing: Readonly<TExisting> | undefined,
+export type FieldMergeFunction<TExisting = any, TIncoming = TExisting> = (
+  existing: SafeReadonly<TExisting> | undefined,
   // The incoming parameter needs to be positional as well, for the same
   // reasons discussed in FieldReadFunction above.
-  incoming: Readonly<TIncoming>,
+  incoming: SafeReadonly<TIncoming>,
   options: FieldFunctionOptions,
 ) => TExisting;
 
@@ -193,8 +202,8 @@ export class Policies {
       fields?: {
         [fieldName: string]: {
           keyFn?: KeyArgsFunction;
-          read?: FieldReadFunction<StoreValue>;
-          merge?: FieldMergeFunction<StoreValue>;
+          read?: FieldReadFunction<any>;
+          merge?: FieldMergeFunction<any>;
         };
       };
     };
@@ -429,7 +438,7 @@ export class Policies {
     return function getFieldValue<T = StoreValue>(
       objectOrReference: StoreObject | Reference,
       storeFieldName: string,
-    ): Readonly<T> {
+    ): SafeReadonly<T> {
       let fieldValue: StoreValue;
       if (isReference(objectOrReference)) {
         const dataId = objectOrReference.__ref;
@@ -444,7 +453,7 @@ export class Policies {
         fieldValue = objectOrReference && objectOrReference[storeFieldName];
       }
       // Enforce Readonly<T> at runtime, in development.
-      return maybeDeepFreeze(fieldValue) as T;
+      return maybeDeepFreeze(fieldValue) as SafeReadonly<T>;
     };
   }
 
@@ -490,7 +499,7 @@ export class Policies {
     getFieldValue: FieldValueGetter,
     variables?: Record<string, any>,
     typename = getFieldValue<string>(objectOrReference, "__typename"),
-  ): Readonly<V> {
+  ): SafeReadonly<V> {
     invariant(
       objectOrReference,
       "Must provide an object or Reference when calling Policies#readField",
@@ -520,7 +529,7 @@ export class Policies {
         storage,
         getFieldValue,
         variables,
-      )) as Readonly<V>;
+      )) as SafeReadonly<V>;
     }
 
     return existing;