diff --git a/fmt-c-writer.scm b/fmt-c-writer.scm
index 4174219..6733687 100644
--- a/fmt-c-writer.scm
+++ b/fmt-c-writer.scm
@@ -114,6 +114,12 @@ forms, and what remains."
     ((attribute) '%attribute)
     ((¤) 'vector-ref)
     ((include) '%include)
+    ;; a `|' inside a symbol has to be escaped to be written in
+    ;; a Scheme source, so we just rename it in fmt-c compatible
+    ;; way
+    ((|\||) 'bit-or)
+    ((|\|\||) '%or)
+    ((|\|=|) 'bit-or=)
     ;; uh things we do for c89 compatibility
     ((bool) 'int)
     ((true) 1)
@@ -190,8 +196,6 @@ forms, and what remains."
      (let-values (((comments slots _) (take-slots rest 2)))
        (list '%cast (walk-type (cadr slots)) (walk-expr (car slots)))))
     (('enum . _) (walk-enum form))
-    ;; | is problematic... And c-or/bit-or/etc are actually
-    ;; procedures, so we have to call the procedure itself
     (('c-or . rest) (apply c-or (map walk-expr rest)))
     (('c-bit-or . rest) (apply c-bit-or (map walk-expr rest)))
     (('c-bit-or= . rest) (apply c-bit-or= (map walk-expr rest)))
diff --git a/tests/codegen.scm b/tests/codegen.scm
index 44ca91e..e278d3a 100644
--- a/tests/codegen.scm
+++ b/tests/codegen.scm
@@ -123,4 +123,34 @@
     ;; Bodies are a statement sequence, so comments there stay put.
     (test-assert "a comment in a body stays in the body"
       (emits? (in-fn "(while (< a b) ;; inside\n (g 1))")
-              "while (a < b) {"))))
+              "while (a < b) {")))
+  ;; `|', `||' and `|=' read as ordinary symbols -- our own reader has
+  ;; no |symbol| syntax for them to collide with -- but fmt-c cannot
+  ;; dispatch on a symbol whose name it cannot write in Scheme source,
+  ;; so they used to fall through to the function-call path and emit
+  ;; `|\||(a, b)'. The writer renames them to heads fmt-c spells with
+  ;; a string.
+  (test-group "bitwise and logical operators"
+    (test-assert "bit-or"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (| a b))") "int x = a | b"))
+    (test-assert "logical or"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (|| a b))") "int x = a || b"))
+    (test-assert "or-assign"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(|= a b)") "a |= b"))
+    (test-assert "bit-and"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (& a b))") "int x = a & b"))
+    (test-assert "logical and"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (&& a b))") "int x = a && b"))
+
+    ;; Precedence too: the operator reaches fmt-c as a string it looks
+    ;; up, not as a symbol in its table
+    (test-assert "parenthesised where C needs it"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (& (| a b) a))") "(a | b) & a"))
+    (test-assert "and left alone where it does not"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (| a (& a b)))") "int x = a | a & b"))
+
+    ;; The spelling from before they could be written directly
+    (test-assert "c-or is still accepted"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (c-or a b))") "a || b"))
+    (test-assert "c-bit-or is still accepted"
+      (emits? (in-fn "(var x int (c-bit-or a b))") "a | b"))))