diff --git a/include/pybind11/numpy.h b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
index b180cb2..af465a1 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/numpy.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
@@ -81,14 +81,18 @@
 struct numpy_internals {
     std::unordered_map<std::type_index, numpy_type_info> registered_dtypes;
 
-    template<typename T> numpy_type_info *get_type_info(bool throw_if_missing = true) {
-        auto it = registered_dtypes.find(std::type_index(typeid(T)));
+    numpy_type_info *get_type_info(const std::type_info& tinfo, bool throw_if_missing = true) {
+        auto it = registered_dtypes.find(std::type_index(tinfo));
         if (it != registered_dtypes.end())
             return &(it->second);
         if (throw_if_missing)
-            pybind11_fail(std::string("NumPy type info missing for ") + typeid(T).name());
+            pybind11_fail(std::string("NumPy type info missing for ") + tinfo.name());
         return nullptr;
     }
+
+    template<typename T> numpy_type_info *get_type_info(bool throw_if_missing = true) {
+        return get_type_info(typeid(typename std::remove_cv<T>::type), throw_if_missing);
+    }
 };
 
 inline PYBIND11_NOINLINE void load_numpy_internals(numpy_internals* &ptr) {
@@ -686,6 +690,62 @@
     dtype descr;
 };
 
+inline PYBIND11_NOINLINE void register_structured_dtype(
+    const std::initializer_list<field_descriptor>& fields,
+    const std::type_info& tinfo, size_t itemsize,
+    bool (*direct_converter)(PyObject *, void *&))
+{
+    auto& numpy_internals = get_numpy_internals();
+    if (numpy_internals.get_type_info(tinfo, false))
+        pybind11_fail("NumPy: dtype is already registered");
+
+    list names, formats, offsets;
+    for (auto field : fields) {
+        if (!field.descr)
+            pybind11_fail(std::string("NumPy: unsupported field dtype: `") +
+                            field.name + "` @ " + tinfo.name());
+        names.append(PYBIND11_STR_TYPE(field.name));
+        formats.append(field.descr);
+        offsets.append(pybind11::int_(field.offset));
+    }
+    auto dtype_ptr = pybind11::dtype(names, formats, offsets, itemsize).release().ptr();
+
+    // There is an existing bug in NumPy (as of v1.11): trailing bytes are
+    // not encoded explicitly into the format string. This will supposedly
+    // get fixed in v1.12; for further details, see these:
+    // - https://github.com/numpy/numpy/issues/7797
+    // - https://github.com/numpy/numpy/pull/7798
+    // Because of this, we won't use numpy's logic to generate buffer format
+    // strings and will just do it ourselves.
+    std::vector<field_descriptor> ordered_fields(fields);
+    std::sort(ordered_fields.begin(), ordered_fields.end(),
+        [](const field_descriptor &a, const field_descriptor &b) { return a.offset < b.offset; });
+    size_t offset = 0;
+    std::ostringstream oss;
+    oss << "T{";
+    for (auto& field : ordered_fields) {
+        if (field.offset > offset)
+            oss << (field.offset - offset) << 'x';
+        // note that '=' is required to cover the case of unaligned fields
+        oss << '=' << field.format << ':' << field.name << ':';
+        offset = field.offset + field.size;
+    }
+    if (itemsize > offset)
+        oss << (itemsize - offset) << 'x';
+    oss << '}';
+    auto format_str = oss.str();
+
+    // Sanity check: verify that NumPy properly parses our buffer format string
+    auto& api = npy_api::get();
+    auto arr =  array(buffer_info(nullptr, itemsize, format_str, 1));
+    if (!api.PyArray_EquivTypes_(dtype_ptr, arr.dtype().ptr()))
+        pybind11_fail("NumPy: invalid buffer descriptor!");
+
+    auto tindex = std::type_index(tinfo);
+    numpy_internals.registered_dtypes[tindex] = { dtype_ptr, format_str };
+    get_internals().direct_conversions[tindex].push_back(direct_converter);
+}
+
 template <typename T>
 struct npy_format_descriptor<T, enable_if_t<is_pod_struct<T>::value>> {
     static PYBIND11_DESCR name() { return _("struct"); }
@@ -699,56 +759,9 @@
         return format_str;
     }
 
-    static void register_dtype(std::initializer_list<field_descriptor> fields) {
-        auto& numpy_internals = get_numpy_internals();
-        if (numpy_internals.get_type_info<T>(false))
-            pybind11_fail("NumPy: dtype is already registered");
-
-        list names, formats, offsets;
-        for (auto field : fields) {
-            if (!field.descr)
-                pybind11_fail(std::string("NumPy: unsupported field dtype: `") +
-                              field.name + "` @ " + typeid(T).name());
-            names.append(PYBIND11_STR_TYPE(field.name));
-            formats.append(field.descr);
-            offsets.append(pybind11::int_(field.offset));
-        }
-        auto dtype_ptr = pybind11::dtype(names, formats, offsets, sizeof(T)).release().ptr();
-
-        // There is an existing bug in NumPy (as of v1.11): trailing bytes are
-        // not encoded explicitly into the format string. This will supposedly
-        // get fixed in v1.12; for further details, see these:
-        // - https://github.com/numpy/numpy/issues/7797
-        // - https://github.com/numpy/numpy/pull/7798
-        // Because of this, we won't use numpy's logic to generate buffer format
-        // strings and will just do it ourselves.
-        std::vector<field_descriptor> ordered_fields(fields);
-        std::sort(ordered_fields.begin(), ordered_fields.end(),
-            [](const field_descriptor &a, const field_descriptor &b) { return a.offset < b.offset; });
-        size_t offset = 0;
-        std::ostringstream oss;
-        oss << "T{";
-        for (auto& field : ordered_fields) {
-            if (field.offset > offset)
-                oss << (field.offset - offset) << 'x';
-            // note that '=' is required to cover the case of unaligned fields
-            oss << '=' << field.format << ':' << field.name << ':';
-            offset = field.offset + field.size;
-        }
-        if (sizeof(T) > offset)
-            oss << (sizeof(T) - offset) << 'x';
-        oss << '}';
-        auto format_str = oss.str();
-
-        // Sanity check: verify that NumPy properly parses our buffer format string
-        auto& api = npy_api::get();
-        auto arr =  array(buffer_info(nullptr, sizeof(T), format_str, 1));
-        if (!api.PyArray_EquivTypes_(dtype_ptr, arr.dtype().ptr()))
-            pybind11_fail("NumPy: invalid buffer descriptor!");
-
-        auto tindex = std::type_index(typeid(T));
-        numpy_internals.registered_dtypes[tindex] = { dtype_ptr, format_str };
-        get_internals().direct_conversions[tindex].push_back(direct_converter);
+    static void register_dtype(const std::initializer_list<field_descriptor>& fields) {
+        register_structured_dtype(fields, typeid(typename std::remove_cv<T>::type),
+                                  sizeof(T), &direct_converter);
     }
 
 private: