diff --git a/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh b/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh
index 3c597adc..b8787635 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QPDFObjectHandle.hh
@@ -334,6 +334,11 @@ class QPDFObjectHandle
     QPDF_DLL
     inline bool isInitialized() const;
 
+    // Return true if the QPDFObjectHandle is initialized. This allows object
+    // handles to be used in if statements with initializer.
+    QPDF_DLL
+    inline operator bool() 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 other
@@ -1863,6 +1868,11 @@ QPDFObjectHandle::isIndirect() const
     return (obj != nullptr) && (getObjectID() != 0);
 }
 
+inline QPDFObjectHandle::operator bool() const
+{
+    return obj != nullptr;
+}
+
 inline bool
 QPDFObjectHandle::isInitialized() const
 {