diff --git a/src/bindings/em/auto-wrap.h b/src/bindings/em/auto-wrap.h
index ff4ff070..7fd3f938 100644
--- a/src/bindings/em/auto-wrap.h
+++ b/src/bindings/em/auto-wrap.h
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 #include <emscripten/val.h>
 #include "flat_set.h"
 #include "marker-index.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "point.h"
 #include "text.h"
 
diff --git a/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.cc b/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.cc
index f53853e3..138e096d 100644
--- a/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.cc
+++ b/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.cc
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 #include "marker-index.h"
 #include "nan.h"
 #include "noop.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "point-wrapper.h"
 #include "range.h"
 
diff --git a/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.h b/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.h
index 2f64cc54..f6eaba13 100644
--- a/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.h
+++ b/src/bindings/marker-index-wrapper.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "nan.h"
 #include "marker-index.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "range.h"
 
 class MarkerIndexWrapper : public Nan::ObjectWrap {
diff --git a/src/bindings/number-conversion.h b/src/bindings/number-conversion.h
index cc063be9..3a3f0fc1 100644
--- a/src/bindings/number-conversion.h
+++ b/src/bindings/number-conversion.h
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 #define SUPERSTRING_NUMBER_CONVERSION_H
 
 #include "nan.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 
 namespace number_conversion {
   template<typename T>
diff --git a/src/bindings/point-wrapper.h b/src/bindings/point-wrapper.h
index fc06b263..52e500fc 100644
--- a/src/bindings/point-wrapper.h
+++ b/src/bindings/point-wrapper.h
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 #define SUPERSTRING_POINT_WRAPPER_H
 
 #include "nan.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "point.h"
 
 class PointWrapper : public Nan::ObjectWrap {
diff --git a/src/bindings/range-wrapper.h b/src/bindings/range-wrapper.h
index de08dd59..9df83e6f 100644
--- a/src/bindings/range-wrapper.h
+++ b/src/bindings/range-wrapper.h
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 #define SUPERSTRING_RANGE_WRAPPER_H
 
 #include "nan.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "point.h"
 #include "range.h"
 
diff --git a/src/bindings/string-conversion.h b/src/bindings/string-conversion.h
index f8178041..61ebfc64 100644
--- a/src/bindings/string-conversion.h
+++ b/src/bindings/string-conversion.h
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include "nan.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "text.h"
 
 namespace string_conversion {
diff --git a/src/core/encoding-conversion.h b/src/core/encoding-conversion.h
index 3b91146a..f24303d5 100644
--- a/src/core/encoding-conversion.h
+++ b/src/core/encoding-conversion.h
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef SUPERSTRING_ENCODING_CONVERSION_H_
 #define SUPERSTRING_ENCODING_CONVERSION_H_
 
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "text.h"
 #include <stdio.h>
 
diff --git a/src/core/optional.h b/src/core/optional.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 61280d99..00000000
--- a/src/core/optional.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef SUPERSTRING_OPTIONAL_H
-#define SUPERSTRING_OPTIONAL_H
-
-#include <utility>
-
-template <typename T> class optional {
-  T value;
-  bool is_some;
-
-public:
-  optional(T &&value) : value(std::move(value)), is_some(true) {}
-  optional(const T &value) : value(value), is_some(true) {}
-  optional() : value(T()), is_some(false) {}
-
-  T &operator*() { return value; }
-  const T &operator*() const { return value; }
-  const T *operator->() const { return &value; }
-  T *operator->() { return &value; }
-  operator bool() const { return is_some; }
-  bool operator==(const optional<T> &other) {
-    if (is_some) {
-      return other.is_some && value == other.value;
-    } else {
-      return !other.is_some;
-    }
-  }
-};
-
-#endif // SUPERSTRING_OPTIONAL_H
diff --git a/src/core/patch.cc b/src/core/patch.cc
index 8702f9b3..550f91db 100644
--- a/src/core/patch.cc
+++ b/src/core/patch.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "patch.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "text.h"
 #include "text-slice.h"
 #include <assert.h>
diff --git a/src/core/patch.h b/src/core/patch.h
index c59021e5..4ddf8aad 100644
--- a/src/core/patch.h
+++ b/src/core/patch.h
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef PATCH_H_
 #define PATCH_H_
 
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include "point.h"
 #include "serializer.h"
 #include "text.h"
diff --git a/src/core/regex.h b/src/core/regex.h
index 10970306..cd8de961 100644
--- a/src/core/regex.h
+++ b/src/core/regex.h
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef REGEX_H_
 #define REGEX_H_
 
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 #include <string>
 
 struct pcre2_real_code_16;
diff --git a/src/core/text.h b/src/core/text.h
index 0326a902..4f0f9bb5 100644
--- a/src/core/text.h
+++ b/src/core/text.h
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 #include <ostream>
 #include "serializer.h"
 #include "point.h"
-#include "optional.h"
+#include <optional>
+using std::optional;
 
 class TextSlice;