diff --git a/phpstan-baseline.neon b/phpstan-baseline.neon
index 9f83d85139e..ec7779bfbed 100644
--- a/phpstan-baseline.neon
+++ b/phpstan-baseline.neon
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ parameters:
 			count: 1
 			path: src/Analyser/ArgumentsNormalizer.php
 
+		-
+			rawMessage: Casting to string something that's already string.
+			identifier: cast.useless
+			count: 3
+			path: src/Analyser/ExprHandler/AssignHandler.php
+
 		-
 			rawMessage: 'Doing instanceof PHPStan\Type\Constant\ConstantStringType is error-prone and deprecated. Use Type::getConstantStrings() instead.'
 			identifier: phpstanApi.instanceofType
diff --git a/src/Analyser/ExprHandler/AssignHandler.php b/src/Analyser/ExprHandler/AssignHandler.php
index 1db8061d9ee..5d2a084ec04 100644
--- a/src/Analyser/ExprHandler/AssignHandler.php
+++ b/src/Analyser/ExprHandler/AssignHandler.php
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ public function processAssignVar(
 				$nodeScopeResolver->callNodeCallback($nodeCallback, new VariableAssignNode($var, $assignedExpr), $scopeBeforeAssignEval, $storage);
 				$scope = $scope->assignVariable($var->name, $type, $scope->getNativeType($assignedExpr), TrinaryLogic::createYes());
 				foreach ($conditionalExpressions as $exprString => $holders) {
-					$scope = $scope->addConditionalExpressions($exprString, $holders);
+					$scope = $scope->addConditionalExpressions((string) $exprString, $holders);
 				}
 
 				if ($assignedExpr instanceof Expr\Array_) {
@@ -861,6 +861,8 @@ private function processSureTypesForConditionalExpressionsAfterAssign(Scope $sco
 				continue;
 			}
 
+			$exprString = (string) $exprString;
+
 			if (!isset($conditionalExpressions[$exprString])) {
 				$conditionalExpressions[$exprString] = [];
 			}
@@ -889,6 +891,8 @@ private function processSureNotTypesForConditionalExpressionsAfterAssign(Scope $
 				continue;
 			}
 
+			$exprString = (string) $exprString;
+
 			if (!isset($conditionalExpressions[$exprString])) {
 				$conditionalExpressions[$exprString] = [];
 			}
@@ -938,7 +942,7 @@ private function isExprSafeToProjectThroughVariable(Expr $expr, string $variable
 		// narrowing targets at a usage site — skip them so they don't collide with PHP's
 		// numeric-string array-key autocast or leak internal virtual expressions into the
 		// conditional-expression map.
-		if ($expr instanceof Node\Scalar || $expr instanceof ConstFetch || $expr instanceof VirtualNode) {
+		if ($expr instanceof Node\Scalar || $expr instanceof ConstFetch || $expr instanceof VirtualNode || $expr instanceof Expr\UnaryMinus && $expr->expr instanceof Node\Scalar) {
 			return false;
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/Analyser/TypeSpecifier.php b/src/Analyser/TypeSpecifier.php
index 4a22a57950c..24903779b3f 100644
--- a/src/Analyser/TypeSpecifier.php
+++ b/src/Analyser/TypeSpecifier.php
@@ -494,7 +494,7 @@ public function specifyTypesInCondition(
 			}
 
 			if ($context->true()) {
-				if (!$expr->left instanceof Node\Scalar) {
+				if (!$expr->left instanceof Node\Scalar && !($expr->left instanceof Expr\UnaryMinus && $expr->left->expr instanceof Node\Scalar)) {
 					$result = $result->unionWith(
 						$this->create(
 							$expr->left,
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ public function specifyTypesInCondition(
 						)->setRootExpr($expr),
 					);
 				}
-				if (!$expr->right instanceof Node\Scalar) {
+				if (!$expr->right instanceof Node\Scalar && !($expr->right instanceof Expr\UnaryMinus && $expr->right->expr instanceof Node\Scalar)) {
 					$result = $result->unionWith(
 						$this->create(
 							$expr->right,
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ public function specifyTypesInCondition(
 					);
 				}
 			} elseif ($context->false()) {
-				if (!$expr->left instanceof Node\Scalar) {
+				if (!$expr->left instanceof Node\Scalar && !($expr->left instanceof Expr\UnaryMinus && $expr->left->expr instanceof Node\Scalar)) {
 					$result = $result->unionWith(
 						$this->create(
 							$expr->left,
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ public function specifyTypesInCondition(
 						)->setRootExpr($expr),
 					);
 				}
-				if (!$expr->right instanceof Node\Scalar) {
+				if (!$expr->right instanceof Node\Scalar && !($expr->right instanceof Expr\UnaryMinus && $expr->right->expr instanceof Node\Scalar)) {
 					$result = $result->unionWith(
 						$this->create(
 							$expr->right,
diff --git a/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/AnalyserIntegrationTest.php b/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/AnalyserIntegrationTest.php
index 6826995d4db..135aad26f8b 100644
--- a/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/AnalyserIntegrationTest.php
+++ b/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/AnalyserIntegrationTest.php
@@ -1543,6 +1543,13 @@ public function testBug14501(): void
 		$this->assertNoErrors($errors);
 	}
 
+	#[RequiresPhp('>= 8.0.0')]
+	public function testBug14542(): void
+	{
+		$errors = $this->runAnalyse(__DIR__ . '/data/bug-14542.php');
+		$this->assertNoErrors($errors);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @param string[]|null $allAnalysedFiles
 	 * @return list<Error>
diff --git a/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/data/bug-14542.php b/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/data/bug-14542.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e24bdfd194f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PHPStan/Analyser/data/bug-14542.php
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Bug14542;
+
+class IndexComparator
+{
+	/**
+	 * @param array<mixed> $ids
+	 */
+	public function compare(mixed $a, mixed $b, array $ids): int
+	{
+		$indexA = ($index = \array_search($a, $ids)) > -1 ? $index : \PHP_INT_MAX;
+		$indexB = ($index = \array_search($b, $ids)) > -1 ? $index : \PHP_INT_MAX;
+
+		return \strnatcmp((string) $indexA, (string) $indexB);
+	}
+}