diff --git a/changes/ticket13172 b/changes/ticket13172
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a1d47fd9cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/ticket13172
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+  o Code simplification and refactoring:
+    - Avoid using operators directly as macro arguments: this lets us
+      apply coccinelle transformations to our codebase more
+      directly. Closes ticket 13172.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/common/compat.h b/src/common/compat.h
index f2eef5b6e7..7001361af3 100644
--- a/src/common/compat.h
+++ b/src/common/compat.h
@@ -203,6 +203,15 @@ extern INLINE double U64_TO_DBL(uint64_t x) {
 #define STMT_END } while (0)
 #endif
 
+/* Some tools (like coccinelle) don't like to see operators as macro
+ * arguments. */
+#define OP_LT <
+#define OP_GT >
+#define OP_GE >=
+#define OP_LE <=
+#define OP_EQ ==
+#define OP_NE !=
+
 /* ===== String compatibility */
 #ifdef _WIN32
 /* Windows names string functions differently from most other platforms. */