diff --git a/include/nlohmann/detail/iterators/iter_impl.hpp b/include/nlohmann/detail/iterators/iter_impl.hpp
index 22f3ffc39..5f5b6aa0f 100644
--- a/include/nlohmann/detail/iterators/iter_impl.hpp
+++ b/include/nlohmann/detail/iterators/iter_impl.hpp
@@ -60,9 +60,11 @@ class iter_impl // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-special-member-functions,hicpp-speci
     static_assert(is_basic_json<typename std::remove_const<BasicJsonType>::type>::value,
                   "iter_impl only accepts (const) basic_json");
     // superficial check for the LegacyBidirectionalIterator named requirement
-    static_assert(std::is_base_of<std::bidirectional_iterator_tag, std::bidirectional_iterator_tag>::value
-                  &&  std::is_base_of<std::bidirectional_iterator_tag, typename std::iterator_traits<typename array_t::iterator>::iterator_category>::value,
-                  "basic_json iterator assumes array and object type iterators satisfy the LegacyBidirectionalIterator named requirement.");
+    // note: only array_t::iterator is checked here; object_t::iterator may be
+    // a forward-only iterator as long as reverse iteration and operator--
+    // are never used on it
+    static_assert(std::is_base_of<std::bidirectional_iterator_tag, typename std::iterator_traits<typename array_t::iterator>::iterator_category>::value,
+                  "basic_json iterator assumes array type iterators satisfy the LegacyBidirectionalIterator named requirement.");
 
   public:
     /// The std::iterator class template (used as a base class to provide typedefs) is deprecated in C++17.
diff --git a/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp b/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp
index 897059240..4a5c032f4 100644
--- a/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp
+++ b/single_include/nlohmann/json.hpp
@@ -17811,9 +17811,11 @@ class iter_impl // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-special-member-functions,hicpp-speci
     static_assert(is_basic_json<typename std::remove_const<BasicJsonType>::type>::value,
                   "iter_impl only accepts (const) basic_json");
     // superficial check for the LegacyBidirectionalIterator named requirement
-    static_assert(std::is_base_of<std::bidirectional_iterator_tag, std::bidirectional_iterator_tag>::value
-                  &&  std::is_base_of<std::bidirectional_iterator_tag, typename std::iterator_traits<typename array_t::iterator>::iterator_category>::value,
-                  "basic_json iterator assumes array and object type iterators satisfy the LegacyBidirectionalIterator named requirement.");
+    // note: only array_t::iterator is checked here; object_t::iterator may be
+    // a forward-only iterator as long as reverse iteration and operator--
+    // are never used on it
+    static_assert(std::is_base_of<std::bidirectional_iterator_tag, typename std::iterator_traits<typename array_t::iterator>::iterator_category>::value,
+                  "basic_json iterator assumes array type iterators satisfy the LegacyBidirectionalIterator named requirement.");
 
   public:
     /// The std::iterator class template (used as a base class to provide typedefs) is deprecated in C++17.