diff --git a/ebml/EbmlElement.h b/ebml/EbmlElement.h
index f49fce80..0134d37c 100644
--- a/ebml/EbmlElement.h
+++ b/ebml/EbmlElement.h
@@ -654,6 +654,8 @@ class EBML_DLL_API EbmlElementDefaultStorage : public EbmlElementDefault<T> {
       return Value;
     }
 
+    explicit operator const S &() const { return Value; }
+
   protected:
     S Value;
 };
diff --git a/ebml/EbmlString.h b/ebml/EbmlString.h
index b82f08ee..7514bd0b 100644
--- a/ebml/EbmlString.h
+++ b/ebml/EbmlString.h
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ class EBML_DLL_API EbmlString : public EbmlElementDefaultStorage<const char *, s
     filepos_t UpdateSize(ShouldWrite writeFilter = WriteSkipDefault, bool bForceRender = false) override;
 
     using EbmlElement::operator const EbmlId &;
-    explicit operator const std::string &() const;
 
     bool operator==(const char * const & val) const override {
       return val == Value;
diff --git a/ebml/EbmlUnicodeString.h b/ebml/EbmlUnicodeString.h
index 50df95f6..082764de 100644
--- a/ebml/EbmlUnicodeString.h
+++ b/ebml/EbmlUnicodeString.h
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ class EBML_DLL_API EbmlUnicodeString : public EbmlElementDefaultStorage<const wc
     filepos_t UpdateSize(ShouldWrite writeFilter = WriteSkipDefault, bool bForceRender = false) override;
 
     using EbmlElement::operator const EbmlId &;
-    explicit operator const UTFstring &() const;
 
     EbmlUnicodeString &SetValueUTF8(std::string const &NewValue);
     std::string GetValueUTF8() const;
diff --git a/src/EbmlString.cpp b/src/EbmlString.cpp
index dc761cc2..10cb6501 100644
--- a/src/EbmlString.cpp
+++ b/src/EbmlString.cpp
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ filepos_t EbmlString::RenderData(IOCallback & output, bool /* bForceRender */, S
   return Result;
 }
 
-EbmlString::operator const std::string &() const {return Value;}
-
 std::uint64_t EbmlString::UpdateSize(ShouldWrite writeFilter, bool /* bForceRender */)
 {
   if (!writeFilter(*this))
diff --git a/src/EbmlUnicodeString.cpp b/src/EbmlUnicodeString.cpp
index 6acef85c..e3b684a9 100644
--- a/src/EbmlUnicodeString.cpp
+++ b/src/EbmlUnicodeString.cpp
@@ -127,8 +127,6 @@ filepos_t EbmlUnicodeString::RenderData(IOCallback & output, bool /* bForceRende
   return Result;
 }
 
-EbmlUnicodeString::operator const UTFstring &() const {return Value;}
-
 EbmlUnicodeString &EbmlUnicodeString::SetValueUTF8(std::string const &NewValue) {
   UTFstring NewValueUTFstring;
   NewValueUTFstring.SetUTF8(NewValue);