diff --git a/guardrails/utils/safe_get.py b/guardrails/utils/safe_get.py
index e53b3e18b..a0327edf7 100644
--- a/guardrails/utils/safe_get.py
+++ b/guardrails/utils/safe_get.py
@@ -26,7 +26,20 @@ def safe_get(
     key: Any,
     default: Optional[Any] = None,
 ) -> Any:
-    if isinstance(container, dict):
+    # Fast-path for dict
+    if type(container) is dict:
         return container.get(key, default)
+    # Fast-path for list/tuple index/slice
+    elif type(container) in (list, tuple):
+        try:
+            value = container[key]
+            if not value:
+                return default
+            return value
+        except Exception:
+            return default
     else:
+        # Fallback to imported helper for string/special containers
+        from guardrails.utils.safe_get import safe_get_with_brackets
+
         return safe_get_with_brackets(container, key, default)
diff --git a/guardrails/utils/validator_utils.py b/guardrails/utils/validator_utils.py
index 139bedb2d..cdec40034 100644
--- a/guardrails/utils/validator_utils.py
+++ b/guardrails/utils/validator_utils.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 """This module contains the constants and utils used by the validator.py."""
 
 from ast import literal_eval
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Type, Union, cast
+from typing import Any, List, Optional, Tuple, Type, Union, cast
 
 from guardrails_api_client import ValidatorReference
 
@@ -82,10 +82,11 @@ def parse_use_many_validator(
 ) -> Optional[Validator]:
     args = safe_get(use_tuple, 1, [])
     kwargs = {}
-    if isinstance(args, Dict):
+    args_type = type(args)
+    if args_type is dict:
         kwargs = args
         args = []
-    elif not isinstance(args, List):
+    elif args_type is not list:
         args = [args]
     kwargs = safe_get(use_tuple, 2, kwargs)
     if validator_cls: