diff --git a/parser_native/include/functors.h b/parser_native/include/functors.h
index 0994c168c..971961fe3 100644
--- a/parser_native/include/functors.h
+++ b/parser_native/include/functors.h
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include	<boost/format.hpp>
 
 #include	"return_type.h"
+#include	"type_name.h"
 
 /*
  * Various functors used for datums.  Unlike the standard functor, these are
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ struct invalid_binary_operator {
 	operator() (T, U) const {
 		std::string s(str(boost::format(
 			"operator %s cannot be applied to the types ('%s', '%s')")
-			% opname_ % typeid(T).name() % typeid(U).name()));
+			% opname_ % type_name<T>::name() % type_name<U>::name()));
 
 		throw type_error(s);
 	}
diff --git a/parser_native/include/type_name.h b/parser_native/include/type_name.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd98573b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parser_native/include/type_name.h
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2008 Andrew Garrett.
+ * Copyright (c) 2008 River Tarnell <river@wikimedia.org>
+ * Derived from public domain code contributed by Victor Vasiliev.
+ *
+ * Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose,
+ * including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it
+ * freely. This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or
+ * implied warranty.
+ */
+
+#ifndef TYPE_NAME_H
+#define TYPE_NAME_H
+
+#include	<boost/date_time.hpp>
+#include	<gmpxx.h>
+
+#include	"fray.h"
+
+/*
+ * A helper class to provide nicer names for types than the compiler-generated
+ * ones, which look like 10__gmp_exprIA1_12__mpz_structS1_E.
+ */
+namespace afp {
+
+template<typename T>
+struct type_name {
+	static std::string name() {
+		return typeid(T).name();
+	}
+};
+
+template<>
+struct type_name<mpf_class> {
+	static std::string name() {
+		return "float";
+	}
+};
+
+template<>
+struct type_name<mpz_class> {
+	static std::string name() {
+		return "integer";
+	}
+};
+
+template<>
+struct type_name<boost::posix_time::ptime> {
+	static std::string name() {
+		return "datetime";
+	}
+};
+
+template<>
+struct type_name<boost::posix_time::time_duration> {
+	static std::string name() {
+		return "time_duration";
+	}
+};
+
+template<>
+struct type_name<u32fray> {
+	static std::string name() {
+		return "string";
+	}
+};
+
+} // namespace afp
+
+#endif	/* !TYPE_NAME_H */