diff --git a/alloc/allocator.hpp b/alloc/allocator.hpp
index c1cc37d3..c842e25b 100644
--- a/alloc/allocator.hpp
+++ b/alloc/allocator.hpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 // C++11 allocator concept conformant allocator adaptor, going from our
 // allocator interface to that of the STL and friends.
 namespace util::alloc {
-    template <class BackingT, class ValueT>
+    template <typename ValueT, typename BackingT>
     class allocator {
     public:
         typedef ValueT value_type;
@@ -54,6 +54,16 @@ namespace util::alloc {
     private:
         BackingT &m_backing;
     };
+
+
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    // convenience type-inferring constructor for allocators.
+    template <typename ValueT, typename BackingT>
+    auto
+    make_allocator (BackingT &backing)
+    {
+        return allocator<ValueT,BackingT> (backing);
+    }
 }
 
 #endif