diff --git a/include/boost/openmethod/core.hpp b/include/boost/openmethod/core.hpp
index 9fd0d476..fe54174e 100644
--- a/include/boost/openmethod/core.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/openmethod/core.hpp
@@ -609,7 +609,15 @@ BOOST_OPENMETHOD_OPEN_NAMESPACE_DETAIL_UNLESS_MRDOCS
 //!
 //! @tparam Class A class type.
 //! @tparam Registry A registry.
-template<class Class, class Registry>
+//! @tparam Deferred Ignored. A constraint on a member template of
+//! `virtual_ptr` names it here so that the check depends on the member's own
+//! template parameter: a default template argument that does not is evaluated
+//! when `virtual_ptr<Class>` itself is instantiated, and `Class` may still be
+//! incomplete then - a `virtual_ptr<Node>` member inside `Node`. The same
+//! constraints test pointer convertibility first, in a defaulted parameter of
+//! its own, so that a candidate that fails it - the copy assignment of that
+//! member, which overload resolution tries here too - never gets this far.
+template<class Class, class Registry, class... Deferred>
 constexpr bool IsPolymorphic = Registry::rtti::template is_polymorphic<Class>;
 
 //! Test if argument is a smart pointer (exposition only)
@@ -971,10 +979,9 @@ class virtual_ptr {
     //! @li @ref missing_class
     template<
         class Other,
-        typename = std::enable_if_t<
-            BOOST_OPENMETHOD_UNLESS_MRDOCS(detail::)
-                IsPolymorphic<Class, Registry> &&
-            std::is_constructible_v<Class*, Other*>>>
+        typename = std::enable_if_t<std::is_constructible_v<Class*, Other*>>,
+        typename = std::enable_if_t<BOOST_OPENMETHOD_UNLESS_MRDOCS(detail::)
+                                        IsPolymorphic<Class, Registry, Other>>>
     virtual_ptr(Other* other) :
         vp(detail::box_vptr<use_indirect_vptrs>(
             detail::acquire_vptr<Registry>(*other))),
@@ -1042,10 +1049,9 @@ class virtual_ptr {
     //! @li @ref missing_class
     template<
         class Other,
-        typename = std::enable_if_t<
-            BOOST_OPENMETHOD_UNLESS_MRDOCS(detail::)
-                IsPolymorphic<Class, Registry> &&
-            std::is_assignable_v<Class*&, Other*>>>
+        typename = std::enable_if_t<std::is_assignable_v<Class*&, Other*>>,
+        typename = std::enable_if_t<BOOST_OPENMETHOD_UNLESS_MRDOCS(detail::)
+                                        IsPolymorphic<Class, Registry, Other>>>
     virtual_ptr& operator=(Other& other) {
         obj = &other;
         vp = detail::box_vptr<use_indirect_vptrs>(
@@ -1080,10 +1086,9 @@ class virtual_ptr {
     //! @li @ref missing_class
     template<
         class Other,
-        typename = std::enable_if_t<
-            BOOST_OPENMETHOD_UNLESS_MRDOCS(detail::)
-                IsPolymorphic<Class, Registry> &&
-            std::is_assignable_v<Class*&, Other*>>>
+        typename = std::enable_if_t<std::is_assignable_v<Class*&, Other*>>,
+        typename = std::enable_if_t<BOOST_OPENMETHOD_UNLESS_MRDOCS(detail::)
+                                        IsPolymorphic<Class, Registry, Other>>>
     virtual_ptr& operator=(Other* other) {
         obj = other;
         vp = detail::box_vptr<use_indirect_vptrs>(
diff --git a/test/test_virtual_ptr_self_referential.cpp b/test/test_virtual_ptr_self_referential.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a8485581
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_virtual_ptr_self_referential.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017-2026 Jean-Louis Leroy
+// Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
+// See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt
+// or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
+
+// A `virtual_ptr` to the class itself, as a member of that class - a linked
+// structure. The class is incomplete where the member is declared, so nothing
+// that instantiating `virtual_ptr<Node>` entails may need a complete `Node`.
+// Three of its member templates did, through a constraint that gcc evaluates
+// when the class is instantiated, and libstdc++ 16 makes `is_polymorphic` of
+// an incomplete type a hard error where 13 let it through.
+
+#include <boost/openmethod.hpp>
+#include <boost/openmethod/initialize.hpp>
+
+#define BOOST_TEST_MODULE virtual_ptr_self_referential
+#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+
+#include <string>
+
+using namespace boost::openmethod;
+
+struct Node {
+    virtual ~Node() = default;
+    virtual_ptr<Node> next;
+};
+
+struct Leaf : Node {};
+
+BOOST_OPENMETHOD_CLASSES(Node, Leaf);
+
+BOOST_OPENMETHOD(name, (virtual_ptr<Node>), std::string);
+
+BOOST_OPENMETHOD_OVERRIDE(name, (virtual_ptr<Node>), std::string) {
+    return "node";
+}
+
+BOOST_OPENMETHOD_OVERRIDE(name, (virtual_ptr<Leaf>), std::string) {
+    return "leaf";
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(virtual_ptr_self_referential) {
+    initialize();
+
+    Leaf leaf;
+    Node node;
+
+    // The assignment from `Other&` whose constraint was evaluated too early...
+    node.next = leaf;
+    BOOST_TEST(name(node.next) == "leaf");
+
+    // ...and the implicit copies, for which overload resolution tries the
+    // same member template with `Other` = `const virtual_ptr<Node>`.
+    Node copy = node;
+    BOOST_TEST(name(copy.next) == "leaf");
+    copy.next = nullptr;
+    copy = node;
+    BOOST_TEST(name(copy.next) == "leaf");
+}