diff --git a/lib/token.cpp b/lib/token.cpp
index 940bb7f09..7dc9abc7b 100644
--- a/lib/token.cpp
+++ b/lib/token.cpp
@@ -200,8 +200,37 @@ std::string Token::strAt(int index) const
     return tok ? tok->_str.c_str() : "";
 }
 
+static bool strisop(const char str[])
+{
+    if (str[1] == 0)
+    {
+        if (strchr("+-*/%&|^~!<>", *str))
+            return true;
+    }
+    else if (str[2] == 0)
+    {
+        if (strcmp(str, "&&")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, "||")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, "==")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, "!=")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, ">=")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, "<=")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, ">>")==0 ||
+            strcmp(str, "<<")==0)
+            return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
 int Token::multiCompare(const char *haystack, const char *needle)
 {
+    if (strncmp(haystack, "%op%|", 5) == 0)
+    {
+        haystack = haystack + 5;
+        if (strisop(needle))
+            return 1;
+    }
+
     bool emptyStringFound = false;
     const char *needlePointer = needle;
     while (true)
@@ -254,6 +283,19 @@ int Token::multiCompare(const char *haystack, const char *needle)
             }
 
             ++haystack;
+
+            if (strncmp(haystack, "%op%", 4) == 0)
+            {
+                if (strisop(needle))
+                    return 1;
+                haystack = haystack + 4;
+                if (*haystack == '|')
+                    haystack++;
+                else if (*haystack == ' ' || *haystack == '\0')
+                    return emptyStringFound ? 0 : -1;
+                else
+                    return -1;
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/tokenize.cpp b/lib/tokenize.cpp
index 073030c79..632f6a0ce 100644
--- a/lib/tokenize.cpp
+++ b/lib/tokenize.cpp
@@ -2075,7 +2075,7 @@ bool Tokenizer::tokenize(std::istream &code,
     // Combine "- %num%" ..
     for (Token *tok = _tokens; tok; tok = tok->next())
     {
-        if (Token::Match(tok, "%any% - %num%") && (tok->isOp() || Token::Match(tok, "?|:|,|(|[|=|return|case")))
+        if (Token::Match(tok, "?|:|,|(|[|=|return|case|%op% - %num%"))
         {
             tok->next()->str("-" + tok->strAt(2));
             tok->next()->deleteNext();
@@ -5594,12 +5594,10 @@ bool Tokenizer::simplifyFunctionReturn()
 
         else if (indentlevel == 0 && Token::Match(tok, "%var% ( ) { return %num% ; }") && tok->str() != ")")
         {
-            const std::string pattern("%any% " + tok->str() + " ( ) %any%");
+            const std::string pattern("(|[|=|%op% " + tok->str() + " ( ) ;|]|)|%op%");
             for (Token *tok2 = _tokens; tok2; tok2 = tok2->next())
             {
-                if (Token::Match(tok2, pattern.c_str()) &&
-                    (tok2->isOp() || Token::Match(tok2, "(|[|=")) &&
-                    (tok2->tokAt(4)->isOp() || Token::Match(tok2->tokAt(4), ";|]|)")))
+                if (Token::Match(tok2, pattern.c_str()))
                 {
                     tok2 = tok2->next();
                     tok2->str(tok->strAt(5));
diff --git a/test/testtoken.cpp b/test/testtoken.cpp
index 7be587ff3..8897cf7f5 100644
--- a/test/testtoken.cpp
+++ b/test/testtoken.cpp
@@ -89,6 +89,12 @@ private:
         ASSERT_EQUALS(static_cast<unsigned int>(-1), static_cast<unsigned int>(Token::multiCompare("abc|def", "a")));
         ASSERT_EQUALS(static_cast<unsigned int>(-1), static_cast<unsigned int>(Token::multiCompare("abc|def", "abcd")));
         ASSERT_EQUALS(static_cast<unsigned int>(-1), static_cast<unsigned int>(Token::multiCompare("abc|def", "default")));
+
+        // %op%
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(1, Token::multiCompare("one|%op%", "+"));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(1, Token::multiCompare("%op%|two", "+"));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, Token::multiCompare("one|%op%", "x"));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(-1, Token::multiCompare("%op%|two", "x"));
     }
 
     void getStrLength()