diff --git a/format.ipp b/format.ipp
index 33d53e65..6efc8da1 100644
--- a/format.ipp
+++ b/format.ipp
@@ -603,6 +603,12 @@ namespace util { namespace format { namespace detail {
     OutputT
     write (OutputT os, const specifier spec, const char *t)
     {
+        // we need to forward to the pointer write function rather than the
+        // other way around to reduce ambiguity and the potential for
+        // recursion.
+        if (spec.k == specifier::kind::POINTER)
+            return write (os, spec, reinterpret_cast<const void*> (t));
+
         if (spec.k != specifier::kind::STRING)
             throw conversion_error ("invalid specifier kind for string argumetn");
 
@@ -672,7 +678,7 @@ namespace util { namespace format { namespace detail {
     //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     template <typename T, typename OutputT>
     std::enable_if_t<
-        std::is_pointer<T>::value,
+        std::is_pointer<T>::value && !std::is_same<std::remove_pointer_t<T>, char>::value,
         OutputT
     >
     write (OutputT &os, const specifier &spec, const T t)
diff --git a/test/format.cpp b/test/format.cpp
index b343e33e..119d84c0 100644
--- a/test/format.cpp
+++ b/test/format.cpp
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ main (void)
     CHECK_RENDER ("%c", "A", 'A');
 
     CHECK_RENDER ("%s", "foo", "foo");
+    CHECK_RENDER ("%s", "foo", std::string ("foo"));
+    CHECK_RENDER ("%s", "foo", const_cast<char*> ("foo"));
     CHECK_RENDER ("%.s", "", "foo");
     CHECK_RENDER ("%.0s", "", "foo");
     CHECK_RENDER ("%.2s", "fo", "foo");
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ main (void)
 
     CHECK_RENDER ("%p", "0x1234567", (void*)0x01234567);
     CHECK_RENDER ("%p", "0x1234567", (int*)0x01234567);
+    CHECK_RENDER ("%p", "0x1234567", (char*)0x01234567);
     CHECK_RENDER ("%p", "(nil)", nullptr);
     CHECK_RENDER ("%p", "(nil)", NULL);