diff --git a/examples/pdf-mod-info.cc b/examples/pdf-mod-info.cc
index 3a9671e1..e97fab9f 100644
--- a/examples/pdf-mod-info.cc
+++ b/examples/pdf-mod-info.cc
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
         QPDFObjectHandle fileinfo;
 
         for (auto const& it: Keys) {
-            if (!fileinfo.isInitialized()) {
+            if (!fileinfo) {
                 if (filetrailer.hasKey("/Info")) {
                     QTC::TC("examples", "pdf-mod-info has info");
                     fileinfo = filetrailer.getKey("/Info");
diff --git a/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh b/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh
index 4d4d7f7f..2da0852f 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh
@@ -300,8 +300,7 @@ class QPDFObjectHandle
     QPDF_DLL
     explicit inline operator bool() const noexcept;
 
-    QPDF_DLL
-    inline bool isInitialized() const;
+    [[deprecated("use operator bool()")]] QPDF_DLL inline bool isInitialized() const;
 
     // This method returns true if the QPDFObjectHandle objects point to exactly the same underlying
     // object, meaning that changes to one are reflected in the other, or "if you paint one, the
diff --git a/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_future.hh b/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_future.hh
index e6a79f60..78555a23 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_future.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle_future.hh
@@ -300,8 +300,7 @@ class QPDFObjectHandle
     QPDF_DLL
     explicit inline operator bool() const noexcept;
 
-    QPDF_DLL
-    inline bool isInitialized() const noexcept;
+    [[deprecated("use operator bool()")]] QPDF_DLL inline bool isInitialized() const noexcept;
 
     // This method returns true if the QPDFObjectHandle objects point to exactly the same underlying
     // object, meaning that changes to one are reflected in the other, or "if you paint one, the
diff --git a/libqpdf/NNTree.cc b/libqpdf/NNTree.cc
index fa054794..58d07d21 100644
--- a/libqpdf/NNTree.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/NNTree.cc
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ NNTreeIterator::resetLimits(QPDFObjectHandle node, std::list<PathElement>::itera
                 }
             }
         }
-        if (first.isInitialized() && last.isInitialized()) {
+        if (first && last) {
             auto limits = QPDFObjectHandle::newArray();
             limits.appendItem(first);
             limits.appendItem(last);
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
index 08af9443..03ffb628 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF.cc
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ QPDF::warn(
 void
 QPDF::setTrailer(QPDFObjectHandle obj)
 {
-    if (m->trailer.isInitialized()) {
+    if (m->trailer) {
         return;
     }
     m->trailer = obj;
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ QPDF::reconstruct_xref(QPDFExc& e)
                 }
             }
             m->file->seek(pos, SEEK_SET);
-        } else if (!m->trailer.isInitialized() && t1.isWord("trailer")) {
+        } else if (!m->trailer && t1.isWord("trailer")) {
             auto pos = m->file->tell();
             QPDFObjectHandle t = readTrailer();
             if (!t.isDictionary()) {
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ QPDF::reconstruct_xref(QPDFExc& e)
     }
     m->deleted_objects.clear();
 
-    if (!m->trailer.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!m->trailer) {
         qpdf_offset_t max_offset{0};
         // If there are any xref streams, take the last one to appear.
         for (auto const& iter: m->xref_table) {
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ QPDF::reconstruct_xref(QPDFExc& e)
         }
     }
 
-    if (!m->trailer.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!m->trailer) {
         // We could check the last encountered object to see if it was an xref stream.  If so, we
         // could try to get the trailer from there.  This may make it possible to recover files with
         // bad startxref pointers even when they have object streams.
@@ -730,7 +730,7 @@ QPDF::read_xref(qpdf_offset_t xref_offset)
         }
     }
 
-    if (!m->trailer.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!m->trailer) {
         throw damagedPDF("", 0, "unable to find trailer while reading xref");
     }
     int size = m->trailer.getKey("/Size").getIntValueAsInt();
@@ -1000,7 +1000,7 @@ QPDF::read_xrefTable(qpdf_offset_t xref_offset)
         throw damagedPDF("", "expected trailer dictionary");
     }
 
-    if (!m->trailer.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!m->trailer) {
         setTrailer(cur_trailer);
 
         if (!m->trailer.hasKey("/Size")) {
@@ -1258,7 +1258,7 @@ QPDF::processXRefStream(qpdf_offset_t xref_offset, QPDFObjectHandle& xref_obj)
         }
     }
 
-    if (!m->trailer.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!m->trailer) {
         setTrailer(dict);
     }
 
@@ -2052,7 +2052,7 @@ QPDF::makeIndirectFromQPDFObject(std::shared_ptr<QPDFObject> const& obj)
 QPDFObjectHandle
 QPDF::makeIndirectObject(QPDFObjectHandle oh)
 {
-    if (!oh.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!oh) {
         throw std::logic_error("attempted to make an uninitialized QPDFObjectHandle indirect");
     }
     return makeIndirectFromQPDFObject(oh.getObj());
@@ -2163,7 +2163,7 @@ QPDF::replaceObject(int objid, int generation, QPDFObjectHandle oh)
 void
 QPDF::replaceObject(QPDFObjGen const& og, QPDFObjectHandle oh)
 {
-    if (!oh.isInitialized() || (oh.isIndirect() && !(oh.isStream() && oh.getObjGen() == og))) {
+    if (!oh || (oh.isIndirect() && !(oh.isStream() && oh.getObjGen() == og))) {
         QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF replaceObject called with indirect object");
         throw std::logic_error("QPDF::replaceObject called with indirect object handle");
     }
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc
index 40627c3d..0154511d 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper.cc
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper::setRadioButtonValue(QPDFObjectHandle name)
         } else {
             annot = kid;
         }
-        if (!annot.isInitialized()) {
+        if (!annot) {
             QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFObjectHandle broken radio button");
             this->oh.warnIfPossible("unable to set the value of this radio button");
             continue;
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper::setCheckBoxValue(bool value)
     // Set /AS to the on value or /Off in addition to setting /V.
     QPDFObjectHandle name = QPDFObjectHandle::newName(value ? on_value : "/Off");
     setFieldAttribute("/V", name);
-    if (!annot.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!annot) {
         QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFObjectHandle broken checkbox");
         this->oh.warnIfPossible("unable to set the value of this checkbox");
         return;
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ QPDFFormFieldObjectHelper::generateTextAppearance(QPDFAnnotationObjectHelper& ao
         QPDFObjectHandle resources = AS.getDict().getKey("/Resources");
         QPDFObjectHandle font = getFontFromResource(resources, font_name);
         bool found_font_in_dr = false;
-        if (!font.isInitialized()) {
+        if (!font) {
             QPDFObjectHandle dr = getDefaultResources();
             font = getFontFromResource(dr, font_name);
             found_font_in_dr = font.isDictionary();
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
index ce77526a..b4583b13 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.cc
@@ -2165,7 +2165,7 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::parseContentStream_data(
         input->seek(offset, SEEK_SET);
         auto obj =
             QPDFParser(*input, "content", tokenizer, nullptr, context, false).parse(empty, true);
-        if (!obj.isInitialized()) {
+        if (!obj) {
             // EOF
             break;
         }
@@ -2520,7 +2520,7 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::makeDirect(bool allow_streams)
 void
 QPDFObjectHandle::assertInitialized() const
 {
-    if (!isInitialized()) {
+    if (!obj) {
         throw std::logic_error("operation attempted on uninitialized QPDFObjectHandle");
     }
 }
@@ -3018,34 +3018,30 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::QPDFArrayItems::end()
 QPDFObjGen
 QPDFObjectHandle::getObjGen() const
 {
-    return isInitialized() ? obj->getObjGen() : QPDFObjGen();
+    return obj ? obj->getObjGen() : QPDFObjGen();
 }
 
 // Indirect object accessors
 QPDF*
 QPDFObjectHandle::getOwningQPDF() const
 {
-    return isInitialized() ? this->obj->getQPDF() : nullptr;
+    return obj ? obj->getQPDF() : nullptr;
 }
 
 QPDF&
 QPDFObjectHandle::getQPDF(std::string const& error_msg) const
 {
-    auto result = isInitialized() ? this->obj->getQPDF() : nullptr;
-    if (result == nullptr) {
-        throw std::runtime_error(
-            error_msg.empty() ? "attempt to use a null qpdf object" : error_msg);
+    if (auto result = obj ? obj->getQPDF() : nullptr) {
+        return *result;
     }
-    return *result;
+    throw std::runtime_error(error_msg.empty() ? "attempt to use a null qpdf object" : error_msg);
 }
 
 void
 QPDFObjectHandle::setParsedOffset(qpdf_offset_t offset)
 {
-    // This is called during parsing on newly created direct objects,
-    // so we can't call dereference() here.
-    if (isInitialized()) {
-        this->obj->setParsedOffset(offset);
+    if (obj) {
+        obj->setParsedOffset(offset);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper.cc
index ba4e4291..51783b1f 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper.cc
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper::resolveNamedDest(QPDFObjectHandle name)
 {
     QPDFObjectHandle result;
     if (name.isName()) {
-        if (!m->dest_dict.isInitialized()) {
+        if (!m->dest_dict) {
             m->dest_dict = qpdf.getRoot().getKey("/Dests");
         }
         QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper name named dest");
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ QPDFOutlineDocumentHelper::resolveNamedDest(QPDFObjectHandle name)
             }
         }
     }
-    if (!result.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!result) {
         return QPDFObjectHandle::newNull();
     }
     if (result.isDictionary()) {
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineObjectHelper.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineObjectHelper.cc
index 2939c47c..964deebf 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineObjectHelper.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFOutlineObjectHelper.cc
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ QPDFOutlineObjectHelper::getDest()
         QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFOutlineObjectHelper action dest");
         dest = A.getKey("/D");
     }
-    if (!dest.isInitialized()) {
-        dest = QPDFObjectHandle::newNull();
+    if (!dest) {
+        return QPDFObjectHandle::newNull();
     }
 
     if (dest.isName() || dest.isString()) {
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc
index f51b12bc..a1ae23c5 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc
@@ -1381,7 +1381,7 @@ QPDFWriter::unparseObject(
             }
         }
 
-        if (extensions.isInitialized()) {
+        if (extensions) {
             std::set<std::string> keys = extensions.getKeys();
             if (keys.count("/ADBE") > 0) {
                 have_extensions_adbe = true;
@@ -1412,7 +1412,7 @@ QPDFWriter::unparseObject(
             }
         }
 
-        if (extensions.isInitialized()) {
+        if (extensions) {
             QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFWriter preserve Extensions");
             QPDFObjectHandle adbe = extensions.getKey("/ADBE");
             if (adbe.isDictionary() &&
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc
index 16bd019c..8ffe919b 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_Stream.cc
@@ -661,18 +661,17 @@ void
 QPDF_Stream::replaceFilterData(
     QPDFObjectHandle const& filter, QPDFObjectHandle const& decode_parms, size_t length)
 {
-    if (filter.isInitialized()) {
-        this->stream_dict.replaceKey("/Filter", filter);
+    if (filter) {
+        stream_dict.replaceKey("/Filter", filter);
     }
-    if (decode_parms.isInitialized()) {
-        this->stream_dict.replaceKey("/DecodeParms", decode_parms);
+    if (decode_parms) {
+        stream_dict.replaceKey("/DecodeParms", decode_parms);
     }
     if (length == 0) {
         QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDF_Stream unknown stream length");
-        this->stream_dict.removeKey("/Length");
+        stream_dict.removeKey("/Length");
     } else {
-        this->stream_dict.replaceKey(
-            "/Length", QPDFObjectHandle::newInteger(QIntC::to_longlong(length)));
+        stream_dict.replaceKey("/Length", QPDFObjectHandle::newInteger(QIntC::to_longlong(length)));
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDF_json.cc b/libqpdf/QPDF_json.cc
index 559ef951..8cbbcd1b 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDF_json.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDF_json.cc
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ QPDF::JSONReactor::anyErrors() const
 void
 QPDF::JSONReactor::containerStart()
 {
-    if (next_obj.isInitialized()) {
+    if (next_obj) {
         stack.emplace_back(next_state, std::move(next_obj));
         next_obj = QPDFObjectHandle();
     } else {
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ QPDF::JSONReactor::dictionaryItem(std::string const& key, JSON const& value)
             throw std::logic_error("stack empty in st_object_top");
         }
         auto& tos = stack.back();
-        if (!tos.object.isInitialized()) {
+        if (!tos.object) {
             throw std::logic_error("current object uninitialized in st_object_top");
         }
         if (key == "value") {
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ QPDF::JSONReactor::makeObject(JSON const& value)
             result = QPDFObjectHandle::newNull();
         }
     }
-    if (!result.isInitialized()) {
+    if (!result) {
         throw std::logic_error("JSONReactor::makeObject didn't initialize the object");
     }
 
diff --git a/libqpdf/qpdf-c.cc b/libqpdf/qpdf-c.cc
index b45b564b..e2b9d821 100644
--- a/libqpdf/qpdf-c.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/qpdf-c.cc
@@ -955,7 +955,7 @@ qpdf_oh_is_initialized(qpdf_data qpdf, qpdf_oh oh)
 {
     QTC::TC("qpdf", "qpdf-c called qpdf_oh_is_initialized");
     return do_with_oh<QPDF_BOOL>(
-        qpdf, oh, return_false, [](QPDFObjectHandle& o) { return o.isInitialized(); });
+        qpdf, oh, return_false, [](QPDFObjectHandle& o) { return static_cast<bool>(o); });
 }
 
 QPDF_BOOL
diff --git a/qpdf/test_driver.cc b/qpdf/test_driver.cc
index e613814c..ef388259 100644
--- a/qpdf/test_driver.cc
+++ b/qpdf/test_driver.cc
@@ -1428,7 +1428,7 @@ test_42(QPDF& pdf, char const* arg2)
         assert(i == ai.end());
         ++i;
         assert(i == ai.end());
-        assert(!i_value.isInitialized());
+        assert(!i_value);
         --i;
         assert(i_value.getName() == "/Item2");
         assert(i->getName() == "/Item2");
@@ -1444,7 +1444,7 @@ test_42(QPDF& pdf, char const* arg2)
         ++i;
         ++i;
         assert(i == di.end());
-        assert(!i_value.second.isInitialized());
+        assert(!i_value.second);
     }
     assert("" == qtest.getStringValue());
     array.getArrayItem(-1).assertNull();
@@ -1542,7 +1542,7 @@ test_42(QPDF& pdf, char const* arg2)
     assert(m1.a == 0 && m1.b == 0 && m1.c == 0 && m1.d == 0 && m1.e == 0 && m1.f == 0);
     // Uninitialized
     QPDFObjectHandle uninitialized;
-    assert(!uninitialized.isInitialized());
+    assert(!uninitialized);
     assert(!uninitialized.isInteger());
     assert(!uninitialized.isDictionary());
     assert(!uninitialized.isScalar());
@@ -1692,7 +1692,7 @@ test_46(QPDF& pdf, char const* arg2)
     assert(iter1_val.first == 2);
     ++iter1;
     assert(iter1 == new1.end());
-    assert(!iter1_val.second.isInitialized());
+    assert(!iter1_val.second);
     ++iter1;
     assert(iter1->first == 1);
     --iter1;
@@ -1842,7 +1842,7 @@ test_48(QPDF& pdf, char const* arg2)
     assert(iter1_val.first == "2");
     ++iter1;
     assert(iter1 == new1.end());
-    assert(!iter1_val.second.isInitialized());
+    assert(!iter1_val.second);
     ++iter1;
     assert(iter1->first == "1");
     --iter1;