diff --git a/include/dwarfs/integral_value_parser.h b/include/dwarfs/integral_value_parser.h
index 3861e37c..4abefb26 100644
--- a/include/dwarfs/integral_value_parser.h
+++ b/include/dwarfs/integral_value_parser.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 #include <folly/Conv.h>
 #include <folly/String.h>
 
-#include "dwarfs/overloaded.h"
+#include "dwarfs/match.h"
 
 namespace dwarfs {
 
@@ -51,30 +51,29 @@ class integral_value_parser {
   T parse(std::string_view arg) const {
     auto val = folly::to<T>(arg);
 
-    std::visit(overloaded{
-                   [](std::monostate const&) {},
-                   [val](std::pair<T, T> const& minmax) {
-                     if (val < minmax.first || val > minmax.second) {
-                       throw std::range_error(
-                           fmt::format("value {} out of range [{}..{}]", val,
-                                       minmax.first, minmax.second));
-                     }
-                   },
-                   [val](std::set<T> const& choices) {
-                     if (auto it = choices.find(val); it == choices.end()) {
-                       throw std::range_error(
-                           fmt::format("invalid value {}, must be one of [{}]",
-                                       val, folly::join(", ", choices)));
-                     }
-                   },
-                   [val](std::function<bool(T)> const& check) {
-                     if (!check(val)) {
-                       throw std::range_error(
-                           fmt::format("value {} out of range", val));
-                     }
-                   },
-               },
-               valid_);
+    valid_ | match{
+                 [](std::monostate const&) {},
+                 [val](std::pair<T, T> const& minmax) {
+                   if (val < minmax.first || val > minmax.second) {
+                     throw std::range_error(
+                         fmt::format("value {} out of range [{}..{}]", val,
+                                     minmax.first, minmax.second));
+                   }
+                 },
+                 [val](std::set<T> const& choices) {
+                   if (auto it = choices.find(val); it == choices.end()) {
+                     throw std::range_error(
+                         fmt::format("invalid value {}, must be one of [{}]",
+                                     val, folly::join(", ", choices)));
+                   }
+                 },
+                 [val](std::function<bool(T)> const& check) {
+                   if (!check(val)) {
+                     throw std::range_error(
+                         fmt::format("value {} out of range", val));
+                   }
+                 },
+             };
 
     return val;
   }
diff --git a/include/dwarfs/overloaded.h b/include/dwarfs/match.h
similarity index 57%
rename from include/dwarfs/overloaded.h
rename to include/dwarfs/match.h
index c29ad354..947940d6 100644
--- a/include/dwarfs/overloaded.h
+++ b/include/dwarfs/match.h
@@ -21,14 +21,41 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <type_traits>
+#include <variant>
+
 namespace dwarfs {
 
 template <typename... Ts>
-struct overloaded : Ts... {
+struct match : Ts... {
   using Ts::operator()...;
 };
 
 template <typename... Ts>
-overloaded(Ts...) -> overloaded<Ts...>;
+match(Ts...) -> match<Ts...>;
+
+namespace detail {
+
+template <typename T>
+struct is_a_variant : std::false_type {};
+
+template <typename... Ts>
+struct is_a_variant<std::variant<Ts...>> : std::true_type {};
+
+template <typename T>
+struct is_a_match : std::false_type {};
+
+template <typename... Ts>
+struct is_a_match<match<Ts...>> : std::true_type {};
+
+} // namespace detail
+
+template <typename T, typename U>
+[[nodiscard]] constexpr decltype(auto) operator|(T&& v, U&& m)
+  requires(detail::is_a_variant<std::decay_t<T>>::value &&
+           detail::is_a_match<std::decay_t<U>>::value)
+{
+  return std::visit(std::forward<U>(m), std::forward<T>(v));
+}
 
 } // namespace dwarfs
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/inode_manager.cpp b/src/dwarfs/inode_manager.cpp
index e981c277..d4f7421d 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/inode_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/inode_manager.cpp
@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@
 #include "dwarfs/inode_manager.h"
 #include "dwarfs/inode_ordering.h"
 #include "dwarfs/logger.h"
+#include "dwarfs/match.h"
 #include "dwarfs/mmif.h"
 #include "dwarfs/nilsimsa.h"
 #include "dwarfs/options.h"
 #include "dwarfs/os_access.h"
-#include "dwarfs/overloaded.h"
 #include "dwarfs/progress.h"
 #include "dwarfs/promise_receiver.h"
 #include "dwarfs/scanner_progress.h"
@@ -273,37 +273,33 @@ class inode_ : public inode {
 
     os << "  similarity: ";
 
-    auto basic_hash_visitor = [&os](uint32_t sh) {
+    auto basic_hash_matcher = [&os](uint32_t sh) {
       os << fmt::format("basic ({0:08x})\n", sh);
     };
 
-    auto nilsimsa_hash_visitor = [&os](nilsimsa::hash_type const& nh) {
+    auto nilsimsa_hash_matcher = [&os](nilsimsa::hash_type const& nh) {
       os << fmt::format("nilsimsa ({0:016x}{1:016x}{2:016x}{3:016x})\n", nh[0],
                         nh[1], nh[2], nh[3]);
     };
 
-    auto similarity_map_visitor = [&](similarity_map_type const& map) {
+    auto similarity_map_matcher = [&](similarity_map_type const& map) {
       os << "map\n";
       for (auto const& [cat, val] : map) {
         os << "    ";
         dump_category(cat);
-        std::visit(
-            overloaded{
-                basic_hash_visitor,
-                nilsimsa_hash_visitor,
-            },
-            val);
+        val | match{
+                  basic_hash_matcher,
+                  nilsimsa_hash_matcher,
+              };
       }
     };
 
-    std::visit(
-        overloaded{
-            [&os](std::monostate const&) { os << "none\n"; },
-            basic_hash_visitor,
-            nilsimsa_hash_visitor,
-            similarity_map_visitor,
-        },
-        similarity_);
+    similarity_ | match{
+                      [&os](std::monostate const&) { os << "none\n"; },
+                      basic_hash_matcher,
+                      nilsimsa_hash_matcher,
+                      similarity_map_matcher,
+                  };
   }
 
   void set_scan_error(file const* fp, std::exception_ptr ep) override {
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp b/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp
index cc0941a3..b8a90cac 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/metadata_types.cpp
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
 
 #include "dwarfs/error.h"
 #include "dwarfs/logger.h"
+#include "dwarfs/match.h"
 #include "dwarfs/metadata_types.h"
-#include "dwarfs/overloaded.h"
 #include "dwarfs/util.h"
 
 #include "dwarfs/gen-cpp2/metadata_types_custom_protocol.h"
@@ -590,39 +590,34 @@ auto inode_view::getgid() const -> gid_type {
 // TODO: pretty certain some of this stuff can be simplified
 
 std::string dir_entry_view::name() const {
-  return std::visit(overloaded{
-                        [this](DirEntryView const& dev) {
-                          return g_->names()[dev.name_index()];
-                        },
-                        [this](InodeView const& iv) {
-                          return std::string(
-                              g_->meta().names()[iv.name_index_v2_2()]);
-                        },
-                    },
-                    v_);
+  return v_ |
+         match{
+             [this](DirEntryView const& dev) {
+               return g_->names()[dev.name_index()];
+             },
+             [this](InodeView const& iv) {
+               return std::string(g_->meta().names()[iv.name_index_v2_2()]);
+             },
+         };
 }
 
 inode_view dir_entry_view::inode() const {
-  return std::visit(overloaded{
-                        [this](DirEntryView const& dev) {
-                          return inode_view(
-                              g_->meta().inodes()[dev.inode_num()],
-                              dev.inode_num(), g_->meta());
-                        },
-                        [this](InodeView const& iv) {
-                          return inode_view(iv, iv.inode_v2_2(), g_->meta());
-                        },
-                    },
-                    v_);
+  return v_ | match{
+                  [this](DirEntryView const& dev) {
+                    return inode_view(g_->meta().inodes()[dev.inode_num()],
+                                      dev.inode_num(), g_->meta());
+                  },
+                  [this](InodeView const& iv) {
+                    return inode_view(iv, iv.inode_v2_2(), g_->meta());
+                  },
+              };
 }
 
 bool dir_entry_view::is_root() const {
-  return std::visit(
-      overloaded{
-          [](DirEntryView const& dev) { return dev.inode_num() == 0; },
-          [](InodeView const& iv) { return iv.inode_v2_2() == 0; },
-      },
-      v_);
+  return v_ | match{
+                  [](DirEntryView const& dev) { return dev.inode_num() == 0; },
+                  [](InodeView const& iv) { return iv.inode_v2_2() == 0; },
+              };
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp b/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp
index 7261059a..840b7ab4 100644
--- a/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp
+++ b/src/mkdwarfs_main.cpp
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@
 #include "dwarfs/integral_value_parser.h"
 #include "dwarfs/iolayer.h"
 #include "dwarfs/logger.h"
+#include "dwarfs/match.h"
 #include "dwarfs/mmap.h"
 #include "dwarfs/options.h"
 #include "dwarfs/options_interface.h"
 #include "dwarfs/os_access.h"
-#include "dwarfs/overloaded.h"
 #include "dwarfs/program_options_helpers.h"
 #include "dwarfs/progress.h"
 #include "dwarfs/scanner.h"
@@ -1248,14 +1248,13 @@ int mkdwarfs_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
   std::unique_ptr<filesystem_writer> fsw;
 
   try {
-    std::ostream& fsw_os = std::visit(
-        overloaded{
-            [&](std::monostate) -> std::ostream& { return iol.out; },
-            [&](std::unique_ptr<output_stream>& os) -> std::ostream& {
-              return os->os();
-            },
-            [&](std::ostringstream& oss) -> std::ostream& { return oss; }},
-        os);
+    std::ostream& fsw_os =
+        os |
+        match{[&](std::monostate) -> std::ostream& { return iol.out; },
+              [&](std::unique_ptr<output_stream>& os) -> std::ostream& {
+                return os->os();
+              },
+              [&](std::ostringstream& oss) -> std::ostream& { return oss; }};
 
     fsw = std::make_unique<filesystem_writer>(
         fsw_os, lgr, wg_compress, prog, schema_bc, metadata_bc, history_bc,
@@ -1339,24 +1338,22 @@ int mkdwarfs_main(int argc, sys_char** argv, iolayer const& iol) {
   }
 
   {
-    auto ec = std::visit(
-        overloaded{[](std::monostate) -> int { return 0; },
-                   [&](std::unique_ptr<output_stream>& os) -> int {
-                     std::error_code ec;
-                     os->close(ec);
-                     if (ec) {
-                       LOG_ERROR << "failed to close output file '" << output
-                                 << "': " << ec.message();
-                       return 1;
-                     }
-                     os.reset();
-                     return 0;
-                   },
-                   [](std::ostringstream& oss [[maybe_unused]]) -> int {
-                     assert(oss.str().empty());
-                     return 0;
-                   }},
-        os);
+    auto ec = os | match{[](std::monostate) -> int { return 0; },
+                         [&](std::unique_ptr<output_stream>& os) -> int {
+                           std::error_code ec;
+                           os->close(ec);
+                           if (ec) {
+                             LOG_ERROR << "failed to close output file '"
+                                       << output << "': " << ec.message();
+                             return 1;
+                           }
+                           os.reset();
+                           return 0;
+                         },
+                         [](std::ostringstream& oss [[maybe_unused]]) -> int {
+                           assert(oss.str().empty());
+                           return 0;
+                         }};
 
     if (ec != 0) {
       return ec;
diff --git a/test/test_helpers.cpp b/test/test_helpers.cpp
index 8a942264..179715b0 100644
--- a/test/test_helpers.cpp
+++ b/test/test_helpers.cpp
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@
 #include <folly/String.h>
 #include <folly/portability/Unistd.h>
 
+#include "dwarfs/match.h"
 #include "dwarfs/os_access_generic.h"
-#include "dwarfs/overloaded.h"
 #include "dwarfs/util.h"
 #include "loremipsum.h"
 #include "mmap_mock.h"
@@ -448,16 +448,15 @@ os_access_mock::map_file(fs::path const& path, size_t size) const {
     }
 
     return std::make_unique<mmap_mock>(
-        std::visit(overloaded{
-                       [this](std::string const& str) { return str; },
-                       [this](std::function<std::string()> const& fun) {
-                         return fun();
-                       },
-                       [this](auto const&) -> std::string {
-                         throw std::runtime_error("oops in overloaded");
-                       },
-                   },
-                   de->v),
+        de->v | match{
+                    [this](std::string const& str) { return str; },
+                    [this](std::function<std::string()> const& fun) {
+                      return fun();
+                    },
+                    [this](auto const&) -> std::string {
+                      throw std::runtime_error("oops in match");
+                    },
+                },
         size);
   }