diff --git a/include/mapnik/util/variant.hpp b/include/mapnik/util/variant.hpp
index 9e118f970..29d0656b1 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/util/variant.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/util/variant.hpp
@@ -523,24 +523,6 @@ private:
     Variant const& lhs_;
 };
 
-// operator<< helper
-template <typename Out>
-class printer
-{
-public:
-    explicit printer(Out & out)
-        : out_(out) {}
-    printer& operator=(printer const&) = delete;
-
-// visitor
-    template <typename T>
-    void operator()(T const& operand) const
-    {
-        out_ << operand;
-    }
-private:
-    Out & out_;
-};
 
 } // namespace detail
 
@@ -798,15 +780,6 @@ ResultType const&  get(T const& var)
 }
 
 
-// operator<<
-template <typename charT, typename traits, typename... Types>
-VARIANT_INLINE std::basic_ostream<charT, traits>&
-operator<< (std::basic_ostream<charT, traits>& out, variant<Types...> const& rhs)
-{
-    detail::printer<std::basic_ostream<charT, traits>> visitor(out);
-    apply_visitor(visitor, rhs);
-    return out;
-}
 
 }}
 
diff --git a/include/mapnik/util/variant_io.hpp b/include/mapnik/util/variant_io.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc996e7f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/mapnik/util/variant_io.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*****************************************************************************
+ *
+ * This file is part of Mapnik (c++ mapping toolkit)
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 Artem Pavlenko
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ *
+ *****************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef MAPNIK_UTIL_VARIANT_IO_HPP
+#define MAPNIK_UTIL_VARIANT_IO_HPP
+
+
+namespace mapnik { namespace util {
+
+namespace detail {
+
+// operator<< helper
+template <typename Out>
+class printer
+{
+public:
+    explicit printer(Out & out)
+        : out_(out) {}
+    printer& operator=(printer const&) = delete;
+
+// visitor
+    template <typename T>
+    void operator()(T const& operand) const
+    {
+        out_ << operand;
+    }
+private:
+    Out & out_;
+};
+
+} // namespace detail
+
+// operator<<
+template <typename charT, typename traits, typename... Types>
+VARIANT_INLINE std::basic_ostream<charT, traits>&
+operator<< (std::basic_ostream<charT, traits>& out, variant<Types...> const& rhs)
+{
+    detail::printer<std::basic_ostream<charT, traits>> visitor(out);
+    apply_visitor(visitor, rhs);
+    return out;
+}
+
+}}
+
+#endif // MAPNIK_UTIL_VARIANT_IO_HPP