diff --git a/src/commands.cc b/src/commands.cc
index 9b19e0537..5d66622cd 100644
--- a/src/commands.cc
+++ b/src/commands.cc
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #include "shell_manager.hh"
 #include "string.hh"
 #include "user_interface.hh"
-#include "utf8_iterator.hh"
 #include "window.hh"
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
diff --git a/src/keys.cc b/src/keys.cc
index a899fb99b..5dc5a1b9a 100644
--- a/src/keys.cc
+++ b/src/keys.cc
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ KeyList parse_keys(StringView str)
 {
     KeyList result;
     using PassPolicy = utf8::InvalidBytePolicy::Pass;
-    using Utf8It = utf8::utf8_iterator<const char*, PassPolicy>;
+    using Utf8It = utf8::iterator<const char*, PassPolicy>;
     for (Utf8It it = str.begin(), str_end = str.end(); it < str_end; ++it)
     {
         if (*it == '<')
diff --git a/src/ncurses.cc b/src/ncurses.cc
index 539e8fca6..0b571fd39 100644
--- a/src/ncurses.cc
+++ b/src/ncurses.cc
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ void NCursesUI::refresh()
 }
 
 using Utf8Policy = utf8::InvalidBytePolicy::Pass;
-using Utf8Iterator = utf8::utf8_iterator<const char*, Utf8Policy>;
+using Utf8Iterator = utf8::iterator<const char*, Utf8Policy>;
 void addutf8str(WINDOW* win, Utf8Iterator begin, Utf8Iterator end)
 {
     waddstr(win, StringView(begin.base(), end.base()).zstr());
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ static std::vector<String> wrap_lines(StringView text, CharCount max_width)
                            : is_eol(c) ? Eol : Word;
     };
 
-    using Utf8It = utf8::utf8_iterator<const char*>;
+    using Utf8It = utf8::iterator<const char*>;
     Utf8It word_begin{text.begin()};
     Utf8It word_end{word_begin};
     Utf8It end{text.end()};
diff --git a/src/normal.cc b/src/normal.cc
index b04fc5130..1c3c48b9b 100644
--- a/src/normal.cc
+++ b/src/normal.cc
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 #include "string.hh"
 #include "window.hh"
 #include "user_interface.hh"
-#include "utf8_iterator.hh"
 #include "debug.hh"
 
 namespace Kakoune
diff --git a/src/selectors.hh b/src/selectors.hh
index d9e5f770d..5471a5c96 100644
--- a/src/selectors.hh
+++ b/src/selectors.hh
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ inline void remove_selection(SelectionList& selections, int index)
     selections.check_invariant();
 }
 
-using Utf8Iterator = utf8::utf8_iterator<BufferIterator, utf8::InvalidBytePolicy::Pass>;
+using Utf8Iterator = utf8::iterator<BufferIterator, utf8::InvalidBytePolicy::Pass>;
 
 inline Selection utf8_range(const Utf8Iterator& first, const Utf8Iterator& last)
 {
diff --git a/src/string.cc b/src/string.cc
index 91a318020..24db4579a 100644
--- a/src/string.cc
+++ b/src/string.cc
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ bool subsequence_match(StringView str, StringView subseq)
 String expand_tabs(StringView line, CharCount tabstop, CharCount col)
 {
     String res;
-    using Utf8It = utf8::utf8_iterator<const char*>;
+    using Utf8It = utf8::iterator<const char*>;
     for (Utf8It it = line.begin(); it.base() < line.end(); ++it)
     {
         if (*it == '\t')
diff --git a/src/utf8_iterator.hh b/src/utf8_iterator.hh
index cc1d3b47b..c7ea102f3 100644
--- a/src/utf8_iterator.hh
+++ b/src/utf8_iterator.hh
@@ -13,92 +13,92 @@ namespace utf8
 // on unicode codepoints instead.
 template<typename Iterator,
          typename InvalidPolicy = InvalidBytePolicy::Assert>
-class utf8_iterator
+class iterator
 {
 public:
-    utf8_iterator() = default;
-    utf8_iterator(Iterator it) : m_it(std::move(it)) {}
+    iterator() = default;
+    iterator(Iterator it) : m_it(std::move(it)) {}
 
-    utf8_iterator& operator++()
+    iterator& operator++()
     {
         m_it = utf8::next(m_it);
         invalidate_value();
         return *this;
     }
 
-    utf8_iterator operator++(int)
+    iterator operator++(int)
     {
-        utf8_iterator save = *this;
+        iterator save = *this;
         ++*this;
         return save;
     }
 
-    void advance(CharCount count, const utf8_iterator& end)
+    void advance(CharCount count, const iterator& end)
     {
         while (*this != end and count-- > 0)
             ++*this;
     }
 
-    utf8_iterator& operator--()
+    iterator& operator--()
     {
         m_it = utf8::previous(m_it);
         invalidate_value();
         return *this;
     }
 
-    utf8_iterator operator--(int)
+    iterator operator--(int)
     {
-        utf8_iterator save = *this;
+        iterator save = *this;
         --*this;
         return save;
     }
 
-    utf8_iterator operator+(CharCount count) const
+    iterator operator+(CharCount count) const
     {
         if (count < 0)
             return operator-(-count);
 
-        utf8_iterator res = *this;
+        iterator res = *this;
         while (count--)
             ++res;
         return res;
     }
 
-    utf8_iterator operator-(CharCount count) const
+    iterator operator-(CharCount count) const
     {
         if (count < 0)
             return operator+(-count);
 
-        utf8_iterator res = *this;
+        iterator res = *this;
         while (count--)
             --res;
         return res;
     }
 
-    bool operator==(const utf8_iterator& other) { return m_it == other.m_it; }
-    bool operator!=(const utf8_iterator& other) { return m_it != other.m_it; }
+    bool operator==(const iterator& other) { return m_it == other.m_it; }
+    bool operator!=(const iterator& other) { return m_it != other.m_it; }
 
-    bool operator< (const utf8_iterator& other) const
+    bool operator< (const iterator& other) const
     {
         return m_it < other.m_it;
     }
 
-    bool operator<= (const utf8_iterator& other) const
+    bool operator<= (const iterator& other) const
     {
         return m_it <= other.m_it;
     }
 
-    bool operator> (const utf8_iterator& other) const
+    bool operator> (const iterator& other) const
     {
         return m_it > other.m_it;
     }
 
-    bool operator>= (const utf8_iterator& other) const
+    bool operator>= (const iterator& other) const
     {
         return m_it >= other.m_it;
     }
 
-    CharCount operator-(utf8_iterator other) const
+    CharCount operator-(iterator other) const
     {
         //kak_assert(other < *this);
         check_invariant();
@@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ private:
 };
 
 template<typename InvalidPolicy = InvalidBytePolicy::Assert, typename Iterator>
-utf8_iterator<Iterator, InvalidPolicy> make_iterator(Iterator it)
+iterator<Iterator, InvalidPolicy> make_iterator(Iterator it)
 {
-    return utf8_iterator<Iterator, InvalidPolicy>{std::move(it)};
+    return iterator<Iterator, InvalidPolicy>{std::move(it)};
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/word_db.cc b/src/word_db.cc
index 1ece56511..b120cb66b 100644
--- a/src/word_db.cc
+++ b/src/word_db.cc
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ namespace Kakoune
 static std::vector<String> get_words(StringView content)
 {
     std::vector<String> res;
-    using Iterator = utf8::utf8_iterator<const char*,
-                                         utf8::InvalidBytePolicy::Pass>;
+    using Iterator = utf8::iterator<const char*, utf8::InvalidBytePolicy::Pass>;
     const char* word_start = content.begin();
     bool in_word = false;
     for (Iterator it{word_start}, end{content.end()}; it != end; ++it)