diff --git a/include/boost/program_options/detail/value_semantic.hpp b/include/boost/program_options/detail/value_semantic.hpp
index 842eab4..ccb0cb7 100644
--- a/include/boost/program_options/detail/value_semantic.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/program_options/detail/value_semantic.hpp
@@ -148,8 +148,8 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
     template<class T, class charT>
     void 
     typed_value<T, charT>::
-    parse(boost::any& value_store, 
-          const std::vector<std::basic_string<charT> >& new_tokens) const
+    xparse(boost::any& value_store, 
+           const std::vector<std::basic_string<charT> >& new_tokens) const
     {
         // The only reason for using 'validator' class and
         // therefore adding a new level of indirection is that
diff --git a/include/boost/program_options/value_semantic.hpp b/include/boost/program_options/value_semantic.hpp
index 19fe76b..899b832 100644
--- a/include/boost/program_options/value_semantic.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/program_options/value_semantic.hpp
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
                    const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens,
                    bool utf8) const;
     protected: // interface for derived classes.
-        virtual void parse(boost::any& value_store, 
-                           const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens) 
+        virtual void xparse(boost::any& value_store, 
+                            const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens) 
             const = 0;
     };
 
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
                    const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens,
                    bool utf8) const;
     protected: // interface for derived classes.
-        virtual void parse(boost::any& value_store, 
-                           const std::vector<std::wstring>& new_tokens) 
+        virtual void xparse(boost::any& value_store, 
+                            const std::vector<std::wstring>& new_tokens) 
             const = 0;
     };
 
@@ -124,8 +124,8 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
             the first string from 'new_tokens' to 'value_store', without
             any modifications.
          */
-        void parse(boost::any& value_store,
-                   const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens) const;
+        void xparse(boost::any& value_store,
+                    const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens) const;
 
         /** Does nothing. */
         bool apply_default(boost::any&) const { return false; }
@@ -229,8 +229,8 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
 
         /** Creates an instance of the 'validator' class and calls
             it's operator() to perform actual convertion. */
-        void parse(boost::any& value_store, 
-                   const std::vector< std::basic_string<charT> >& new_tokens) const;
+        void xparse(boost::any& value_store, 
+                    const std::vector< std::basic_string<charT> >& new_tokens) const;
 
         /** If default value was specified via previous call to 
             'default_value', stores that value into 'value_store'.
diff --git a/src/value_semantic.cpp b/src/value_semantic.cpp
index 7612709..ac41efa 100644
--- a/src/value_semantic.cpp
+++ b/src/value_semantic.cpp
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
                 std::wstring w = from_utf8(new_tokens[i]);
                 local_tokens.push_back(to_local_8_bit(w));
             }
-            parse(value_store, local_tokens);
+            xparse(value_store, local_tokens);
         } else {
             // Already in local encoding, pass unmodified
-            parse(value_store, new_tokens);
+            xparse(value_store, new_tokens);
         }        
     }
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
             }
         }      
 
-        parse(value_store, tokens);  
+        xparse(value_store, tokens);  
     }
 
 
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ namespace boost { namespace program_options {
     }
 
     void 
-    untyped_value::parse(boost::any& value_store,
-                         const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens) const
+    untyped_value::xparse(boost::any& value_store,
+                          const std::vector<std::string>& new_tokens) const
     {
         if (!value_store.empty()) 
             throw multiple_occurences("multiple_occurences");