diff --git a/ostd/unordered_map.hh b/ostd/unordered_map.hh
index 15eb971..91928d6 100644
--- a/ostd/unordered_map.hh
+++ b/ostd/unordered_map.hh
@@ -33,6 +33,19 @@ struct ranged_traits<std::unordered_map<K, T, H, E, A> const> {
     }
 };
 
+namespace detail {
+    template<typename T>
+    std::integral_constant<
+        bool, std::tuple_size<T>::value == 2
+    > tuple2_like_test(typename std::tuple_size<T>::type *);
+
+    template<typename>
+    std::false_type tuple2_like_test(...);
+
+    template<typename T>
+    constexpr bool is_2tuple_like = decltype(tuple2_like_test<T>(0))::value;
+}
+
 template<
     typename K, typename T, typename H = std::hash<K>,
     typename E = std::equal_to<K>,
@@ -42,14 +55,39 @@ inline std::unordered_map<K, T, H, E, A> make_unordered_map(
     R range, size_t bcount = 1, H const &hash = H{},
     E const &kequal = E{}, A const &alloc = A{}
 ) {
+    static_assert(
+        detail::is_2tuple_like<RangeValue<R>>,
+        "the range element must be a pair/2-tuple"
+    );
+
+    using MP = std::pair<K const, T>;
+    using AK = std::tuple_element_t<0, RangeValue<R>>;
+    using AV = std::tuple_element_t<1, RangeValue<R>>;
+
+    static_assert(
+        std::is_constructible_v<K const, AK> && std::is_constructible_v<T, AV>,
+        "incompatible range element type"
+    );
+
     std::unordered_map<K, T, H, E, A> ret{bcount, hash, kequal, alloc};
+
     using C = RangeCategory<R>;
     if constexpr(std::is_convertible_v<C, FiniteRandomAccessRangeTag>) {
         /* at least try to preallocate here... */
         ret.reserve(range.size());
     }
+
     for (; !range.empty(); range.pop_front()) {
-        ret.emplace(range.front());
+        if constexpr(std::is_constructible_v<MP, RangeValue<R>>) {
+            ret.emplace(range.front());
+        } else {
+            /* store a temporary to prevent calling front() twice; however,
+             * for values that can be used to construct the pair directly
+             * we can just do the above
+             */
+            RangeValue<R> v{range.front()};
+            ret.emplace(std::move(std::get<0>(v)), std::move(std::get<1>(v)));
+        }
     }
     return ret;
 }
@@ -59,19 +97,24 @@ template<
     typename H = std::hash<typename RangeValue<R>::first_type>,
     typename E = std::equal_to<typename RangeValue<R>::first_type>,
     typename A = std::allocator<std::pair<
-        typename RangeValue<R>::first_type, typename RangeValue<R>::second_type
+        std::tuple_element_t<0, RangeValue<R>>,
+        std::tuple_element_t<1, RangeValue<R>>
     >>
 >
 inline std::unordered_map<
-    typename RangeValue<R>::first_type,
-    typename RangeValue<R>::second_type, H, E, A
+    std::tuple_element_t<0, RangeValue<R>>,
+    std::tuple_element_t<1, RangeValue<R>>, H, E, A
 > make_unordered_map(
     R &&range, size_t bcount = 1, H const &hash = H{},
     E const &kequal = E{}, A const &alloc = A{}
 ) {
+    static_assert(
+        detail::is_2tuple_like<RangeValue<R>>,
+        "the range elements must be pairs/2-tuples"
+    );
     return make_unordered_map<
-        typename RangeValue<R>::first_type,
-        typename RangeValue<R>::second_type, H, E, A
+        std::tuple_element_t<0, RangeValue<R>>,
+        std::tuple_element_t<1, RangeValue<R>>, H, E, A
     >(std::forward<R>(range), bcount, hash, kequal, alloc);
 }