diff --git a/examples/pdf-create.cc b/examples/pdf-create.cc
index 44405d38..199584fe 100644
--- a/examples/pdf-create.cc
+++ b/examples/pdf-create.cc
@@ -290,15 +290,14 @@ static void check(char const* filename,
         QPDFObjectHandle color_space = image_dict.getKey("/ColorSpace");
         QPDFObjectHandle filter = image_dict.getKey("/Filter");
         bool this_errors = false;
-        if (! (filter.isName() && (filter.getName() == desired_filter)))
+        if (! filter.isNameAndEquals(desired_filter))
         {
             this_errors = errors = true;
             std::cout << "page " << pageno << ": expected filter "
                       << desired_filter << "; actual filter = "
                       << filter.unparse() << std::endl;
         }
-        if (! (color_space.isName() &&
-               (color_space.getName() == desired_color_space)))
+        if (! color_space.isNameAndEquals(desired_color_space))
         {
             this_errors = errors = true;
             std::cout << "page " << pageno << ": expected color space "
diff --git a/examples/pdf-invert-images.cc b/examples/pdf-invert-images.cc
index bb8541e3..b410bca5 100644
--- a/examples/pdf-invert-images.cc
+++ b/examples/pdf-invert-images.cc
@@ -167,9 +167,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 		// keys to determine the image type.
 		if (image.pipeStreamData(0, qpdf_ef_compress,
                                          qpdf_dl_all) &&
-		    color_space.isName() &&
+                    color_space.isNameAndEquals("/DeviceGray") &&
 		    bits_per_component.isInteger() &&
-		    (color_space.getName() == "/DeviceGray") &&
 		    (bits_per_component.getIntValue() == 8))
 		{
                     inv->registerImage(image, p);
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
index b90c213e..7f6f7801 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
@@ -1100,10 +1100,7 @@ QPDF::read_xrefStream(qpdf_offset_t xref_offset)
 	{
 	    // ignore -- report error below
 	}
-	if (xref_obj.isInitialized() &&
-	    xref_obj.isStream() &&
-	    xref_obj.getDict().getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-	    xref_obj.getDict().getKey("/Type").getName() == "/XRef")
+        if (xref_obj.isStreamOfType("/XRef"))
 	{
 	    QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF found xref stream");
 	    found = true;
@@ -2202,8 +2199,7 @@ QPDF::resolveObjectsInStream(int obj_stream_number)
         this->m->obj_cache[stream_og].end_after_space;
 
     QPDFObjectHandle dict = obj_stream.getDict();
-    if (! (dict.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-	   dict.getKey("/Type").getName() == "/ObjStm"))
+    if (! dict.isDictionaryOfType("/ObjStm"))
     {
 	QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF ERR object stream with wrong type");
 	warn(QPDFExc(qpdf_e_damaged_pdf, this->m->file->getName(),
@@ -2849,13 +2845,10 @@ QPDF::getCompressibleObjGens()
 	    {
 		QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF exclude encryption dictionary");
 	    }
-	    else if ((! obj.isStream()) &&
-		     (! (obj.isDictionary() &&
+            else if (! (obj.isStream() ||
+                        (obj.isDictionaryOfType("/Sig") &&
                          obj.hasKey("/ByteRange") &&
-                         obj.hasKey("/Contents") &&
-                         obj.hasKey("/Type") &&
-                         obj.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-                         obj.getKey("/Type").getName() == "/Sig")))
+                         obj.hasKey("/Contents"))))
 	    {
 		result.push_back(og);
 	    }
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper.cc
index ad6efc70..c3ade76c 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper.cc
@@ -280,9 +280,7 @@ QPDFAcroFormDocumentHelper::getFieldForAnnotation(QPDFAnnotationObjectHelper h)
 {
     QPDFObjectHandle oh = h.getObjectHandle();
     QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper result(QPDFObjectHandle::newNull());
-    if (! (oh.isDictionary() &&
-           oh.getKey("/Subtype").isName() &&
-           (oh.getKey("/Subtype").getName() == "/Widget")))
+    if (! oh.isDictionaryOfType("", "/Widget"))
     {
         return result;
     }
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFFileSpecObjectHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFFileSpecObjectHelper.cc
index ad422d2b..b3df5e22 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFFileSpecObjectHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFFileSpecObjectHelper.cc
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ QPDFFileSpecObjectHelper::QPDFFileSpecObjectHelper(
         oh.warnIfPossible("Embedded file object is not a dictionary");
         return;
     }
-    auto type = oh.getKey("/Type");
-    if (! (type.isName() && (type.getName() == "/Filespec")))
+    if (! oh.isDictionaryOfType("/Filespec"))
     {
         oh.warnIfPossible("Embedded file object's type is not /Filespec");
     }
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
index 2713eb95..f8d52a7b 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
@@ -1055,23 +1055,9 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::getDictAsMap()
 bool
 QPDFObjectHandle::isOrHasName(std::string const& value)
 {
-    if (isName() && (getName() == value))
-    {
-	return true;
-    }
-    else if (isArray())
-    {
-	int n = getArrayNItems();
-	for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i)
-	{
-	    QPDFObjectHandle item = getArrayItem(0);
-	    if (item.isName() && (item.getName() == value))
-	    {
-		return true;
-	    }
-	}
-    }
-    return false;
+    return isNameAndEquals(value) ||
+           (isArray() && (getArrayNItems() > 0) && 
+            getArrayItem(0).isNameAndEquals(value));
 }
 
 void
@@ -2520,8 +2506,7 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::parseInternal(PointerHolder<InputSource> input,
                 }
 		if (!contents_string.empty() &&
 		    dict.count("/Type") &&
-		    dict["/Type"].isName() &&
-		    dict["/Type"].getName() == "/Sig" &&
+                    dict["/Type"].isNameAndEquals("/Sig") &&
 		    dict.count("/ByteRange") &&
 		    dict.count("/Contents") &&
 		    dict["/Contents"].isString())
@@ -3237,7 +3222,7 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::isPageObject()
     if (this->hasKey("/Type"))
     {
         QPDFObjectHandle type = this->getKey("/Type");
-        if (type.isName() && (type.getName() == "/Page"))
+        if (type.isNameAndEquals("/Page"))
         {
             return true;
         }
@@ -3263,39 +3248,22 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::isPagesObject()
     }
     // getAllPages repairs /Type when traversing the page tree.
     getOwningQPDF()->getAllPages();
-    return (this->isDictionary() &&
-            this->hasKey("/Type") &&
-            this->getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-            this->getKey("/Type").getName() == "/Pages");
+    return isDictionaryOfType("/Pages");
 }
 
 bool
 QPDFObjectHandle::isFormXObject()
 {
-    if (! this->isStream())
-    {
-        return false;
-    }
-    QPDFObjectHandle dict = this->getDict();
-    return (dict.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-            ("/XObject" == dict.getKey("/Type").getName()) &&
-            dict.getKey("/Subtype").isName() &&
-            ("/Form" == dict.getKey("/Subtype").getName()));
+    return isStreamOfType("/XObject", "/Form");
 }
 
 bool
 QPDFObjectHandle::isImage(bool exclude_imagemask)
 {
-    if (! this->isStream())
-    {
-        return false;
-    }
-    QPDFObjectHandle dict = this->getDict();
-    return (dict.hasKey("/Subtype") &&
-            (dict.getKey("/Subtype").getName() == "/Image") &&
+    return (isStreamOfType("", "/Image") &&
             ((! exclude_imagemask) ||
-             (! (dict.getKey("/ImageMask").isBool() &&
-                 dict.getKey("/ImageMask").getBoolValue()))));
+             (! (getDict().getKey("/ImageMask").isBool() &&
+                 getDict().getKey("/ImageMask").getBoolValue()))));
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFPageObjectHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFPageObjectHelper.cc
index 7f7e6bea..ca543471 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFPageObjectHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFPageObjectHelper.cc
@@ -558,10 +558,7 @@ QPDFPageObjectHelper::getAnnotations(std::string const& only_subtype)
         for (int i = 0; i < nannots; ++i)
         {
             QPDFObjectHandle annot = annots.getArrayItem(i);
-            if (only_subtype.empty() ||
-                (annot.isDictionary() &&
-                 annot.getKey("/Subtype").isName() &&
-                 (only_subtype == annot.getKey("/Subtype").getName())))
+            if (annot.isDictionaryOfType("", only_subtype))
             {
                 result.push_back(QPDFAnnotationObjectHelper(annot));
             }
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc
index 23beee32..e7fb9ad6 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc
@@ -1241,9 +1241,7 @@ QPDFWriter::enqueueObject(QPDFObjectHandle object)
                 " another file.");
         }
 
-        if (this->m->qdf_mode &&
-            object.isStream() && object.getDict().getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-            (object.getDict().getKey("/Type").getName() == "/XRef"))
+        if (this->m->qdf_mode && object.isStreamOfType("/XRef"))
         {
             // As a special case, do not output any extraneous XRef
             // streams in QDF mode. Doing so will confuse fix-qdf,
@@ -1474,8 +1472,7 @@ QPDFWriter::willFilterStream(QPDFObjectHandle stream,
     QPDFObjGen old_og = stream.getObjGen();
     QPDFObjectHandle stream_dict = stream.getDict();
 
-    if (stream_dict.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-        (stream_dict.getKey("/Type").getName() == "/Metadata"))
+    if (stream_dict.isDictionaryOfType("/Metadata"))
     {
         is_metadata = true;
     }
@@ -1691,11 +1688,8 @@ QPDFWriter::unparseObject(QPDFObjectHandle object, int level,
             QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFWriter preserve Extensions");
             QPDFObjectHandle adbe = extensions.getKey("/ADBE");
             if (adbe.isDictionary() &&
-                adbe.hasKey("/BaseVersion") &&
-                adbe.getKey("/BaseVersion").isName() &&
-                (adbe.getKey("/BaseVersion").getName() ==
-                 "/" + this->m->final_pdf_version) &&
-                adbe.hasKey("/ExtensionLevel") &&
+                adbe.getKey("/BaseVersion").isNameAndEquals(
+                            "/" + this->m->final_pdf_version) &&
                 adbe.getKey("/ExtensionLevel").isInteger() &&
                 (adbe.getKey("/ExtensionLevel").getIntValue() ==
                  this->m->final_extension_level))
@@ -1764,7 +1758,7 @@ QPDFWriter::unparseObject(QPDFObjectHandle object, int level,
                         for (int i = 0; i < filter.getArrayNItems(); ++i)
                         {
                             QPDFObjectHandle item = filter.getArrayItem(i);
-                            if (item.isName() && item.getName() == "/Crypt")
+                            if (item.isNameAndEquals("/Crypt"))
                             {
                                 idx = i;
                                 break;
@@ -1802,9 +1796,7 @@ QPDFWriter::unparseObject(QPDFObjectHandle object, int level,
 	    writeString(QPDF_Name::normalizeName(key));
 	    writeString(" ");
 	    if (key == "/Contents" &&
-		object.hasKey("/Type") &&
-		object.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-		object.getKey("/Type").getName() == "/Sig" &&
+		object.isDictionaryOfType("/Sig") &&
 		object.hasKey("/ByteRange"))
 	    {
                 QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFWriter no encryption sig contents");
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc
index 14659008..3047f5a5 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc
@@ -35,10 +35,8 @@ class SF_Crypt: public QPDFStreamFilter
         for (auto const& key: decode_parms.getKeys())
         {
             if (((key == "/Type") || (key == "/Name")) &&
-                (decode_parms.getKey("/Type").isNull() ||
-                 (decode_parms.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-                  (decode_parms.getKey("/Type").getName() ==
-                   "/CryptFilterDecodeParms"))))
+                ((! decode_parms.hasKey("/Type")) || 
+                 decode_parms.isDictionaryOfType("/CryptFilterDecodeParms")))
             {
                 // we handle this in decryptStream
             }
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_encryption.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_encryption.cc
index 2ff48df9..9607a598 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_encryption.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_encryption.cc
@@ -1262,9 +1262,7 @@ QPDF::decryptStream(PointerHolder<EncryptionParameters> encp,
             {
                 QPDFObjectHandle decode_parms =
                     stream_dict.getKey("/DecodeParms");
-                if (decode_parms.getKey("/Type").isName() &&
-                    (decode_parms.getKey("/Type").getName() ==
-                     "/CryptFilterDecodeParms"))
+                if (decode_parms.isDictionaryOfType("/CryptFilterDecodeParms"))
                 {
                     QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF_encryption stream crypt filter");
                     method = interpretCF(encp, decode_parms.getKey("/Name"));
@@ -1280,8 +1278,7 @@ QPDF::decryptStream(PointerHolder<EncryptionParameters> encp,
                 {
                     for (int i = 0; i < filter.getArrayNItems(); ++i)
                     {
-                        if (filter.getArrayItem(i).isName() &&
-                            (filter.getArrayItem(i).getName() == "/Crypt"))
+                        if (filter.getArrayItem(i).isNameAndEquals("/Crypt"))
                         {
                             QPDFObjectHandle crypt_params =
                                 decode.getArrayItem(i);
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_optimization.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_optimization.cc
index 5d8056b2..ae85e36c 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_optimization.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_optimization.cc
@@ -382,17 +382,13 @@ QPDF::updateObjectMapsInternal(
 
     bool is_page_node = false;
 
-    if (oh.isDictionary() && oh.hasKey("/Type"))
+    if (oh.isDictionaryOfType("/Page"))
     {
-	std::string type = oh.getKey("/Type").getName();
-	if (type == "/Page")
-	{
-	    is_page_node = true;
-	    if (! top)
-	    {
-		return;
-	    }
-	}
+        is_page_node = true;
+        if (! top)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
     }
 
     if (oh.isIndirect())
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_pages.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_pages.cc
index eeb13029..2a1b798f 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_pages.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_pages.cc
@@ -139,8 +139,7 @@ QPDF::getAllPagesInternal(QPDFObjectHandle cur_node,
 	result.push_back(cur_node);
     }
 
-    QPDFObjectHandle type_key = cur_node.getKey("/Type");
-    if (! (type_key.isName() && (type_key.getName() == wanted_type)))
+    if (! cur_node.isDictionaryOfType(wanted_type))
     {
         warn(QPDFExc(qpdf_e_damaged_pdf, this->m->file->getName(),
                      "page tree node",