diff --git a/lib/tokenize.cpp b/lib/tokenize.cpp
index 98345dd31f9..6bc6d56a929 100644
--- a/lib/tokenize.cpp
+++ b/lib/tokenize.cpp
@@ -10025,12 +10025,19 @@ void Tokenizer::simplifyOperatorName()
             }
         }
 
+        const bool returnsRef = Token::simpleMatch(par, "( & (") && tok->next()->isName();
         if (par && !op.empty()) {
-            tok->str("operator" + op);
-            Token::eraseTokens(tok, par);
+            if (returnsRef) {
+                par->next()->insertToken("operator" + op)->isOperatorKeyword(true);
+                tok->deleteThis();
+            }
+            else {
+                tok->str("operator" + op);
+                Token::eraseTokens(tok, par);
+            }
         }
 
-        if (!op.empty())
+        if (!op.empty() && !returnsRef)
             tok->isOperatorKeyword(true);
     }
 
diff --git a/test/testsimplifytypedef.cpp b/test/testsimplifytypedef.cpp
index a63538f346b..72ef30579fc 100644
--- a/test/testsimplifytypedef.cpp
+++ b/test/testsimplifytypedef.cpp
@@ -2909,7 +2909,7 @@ class TestSimplifyTypedef : public TestFixture {
                                 "  constexpr operator foo &() const noexcept { return _a; }\n"
                                 "};";
 
-            const char actual[] = "class c { char _a [ 4 ] ; constexpr operatorchar ( & ( ) const noexcept ( true ) ) [ 4 ] { return _a ; } } ;";
+            const char actual[] = "class c { char _a [ 4 ] ; constexpr char ( & operatorchar ( ) const noexcept ( true ) ) [ 4 ] { return _a ; } } ;";
             const char exp[] = "class c { char _a [ 4 ] ; const operator char ( & ( ) const noexcept ( true ) ) [ 4 ] { return _a ; } } ;";
             TODO_ASSERT_EQUALS(exp, actual, tok(code, false));
         }
@@ -2921,7 +2921,7 @@ class TestSimplifyTypedef : public TestFixture {
                                 "  constexpr operator const foo &() const noexcept { return _a; }\n"
                                 "};";
 
-            const char actual[] = "class c { char _a [ 4 ] ; constexpr operatorconstchar ( & ( ) const noexcept ( true ) ) [ 4 ] { return _a ; } } ;";
+            const char actual[] = "class c { char _a [ 4 ] ; constexpr const char ( & operatorconstchar ( ) const noexcept ( true ) ) [ 4 ] { return _a ; } } ;";
             const char exp[] = "class c { char _a [ 4 ] ; const operator const char ( & ( ) const noexcept ( true ) ) [ 4 ] { return _a ; } } ;";
             TODO_ASSERT_EQUALS(exp, actual, tok(code, false));
         }
diff --git a/test/testtokenize.cpp b/test/testtokenize.cpp
index 6fa10173b07..ee3dd93f48d 100644
--- a/test/testtokenize.cpp
+++ b/test/testtokenize.cpp
@@ -5101,7 +5101,7 @@ class TestTokenizer : public TestFixture {
                             "    operator A& () { return x_; }\n"
                             "    A x_;\n"
                             "};";
-        ASSERT_EQUALS("template < typename T >\nstruct B {\n\noperatorT ( & ( ) ) [ 3 ] { return x_ ; }\nT x_ [ 3 ] ;\n} ;", tokenizeAndStringify(code));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("template < typename T >\nstruct B {\n\nT ( & operatorT ( ) ) [ 3 ] { return x_ ; }\nT x_ [ 3 ] ;\n} ;", tokenizeAndStringify(code));
         ASSERT_EQUALS("", errout.str());
     }