diff --git a/kde-modules/KDECompilerSettings.cmake b/kde-modules/KDECompilerSettings.cmake
index 63a5ce1..c42fd55 100644
--- a/kde-modules/KDECompilerSettings.cmake
+++ b/kde-modules/KDECompilerSettings.cmake
@@ -210,6 +210,46 @@ if (CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU" OR
     set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fno-operator-names")
 endif()
 
+# allow projects that do require named operators to (re)activate them
+# (this includes projects using boost)
+function(KDE_ENABLE_NAMED_OPERATORS)
+    set(WMSG "Using C++ named operators is not compatible with MSVC prior to version 2017 (19.1).\
+        You should reconsider using this macro if your code is meant to be cross-platform")
+    if (MSVC)
+        if (MSVC_VERSION LESS 1910)
+            # https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/11/16/permissive-switch/ and
+            # https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/06/07/standards-version-switches-in-the-compiler/
+            # https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/permissive-standards-conformance
+            message(WARNING ${WMSG})
+        else()
+            set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} /permissive-")
+        endif()
+    else()
+        string(REPLACE "-fno-operator-names" "" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}")
+        message(WARNING ${WMSG})
+    endif()
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
+
+function(KDE_TARGET_ENABLE_NAMED_OPERATORS target mode)
+    set(WMSG "Using C++ named operators is not compatible with MSVC prior to version 2017 (19.1).\
+        You should reconsider using this macro if \"${target}\" is meant to be cross-platform")
+    if (MSVC)
+        if (MSVC_VERSION LESS 1910)
+            # https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/11/16/permissive-switch/ and
+            # https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/06/07/standards-version-switches-in-the-compiler/
+            # https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/permissive-standards-conformance
+            message(WARNING ${WMSG})
+        else()
+            target_compile_options(${target} ${mode} "/permissive-")
+        endif()
+    else()
+        target_compile_options(${target} ${mode}
+            "$<$<OR:$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:GNU>,$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:Clang>,$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:AppleClang>>:-foperator-names>")
+        message(WARNING ${WMSG})
+    endif()
+endfunction()
+
 # Default to hidden visibility for symbols
 set(CMAKE_C_VISIBILITY_PRESET hidden)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_VISIBILITY_PRESET hidden)