diff --git a/gsl/span b/gsl/span
index b4dfa5d2..25a36234 100644
--- a/gsl/span
+++ b/gsl/span
@@ -353,6 +353,7 @@ class span
 public:
     // constants and types
     using element_type = ElementType;
+    using value_type = typename std::remove_cv<ElementType>::type;
     using index_type = std::ptrdiff_t;
     using pointer = element_type*;
     using reference = element_type&;