diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9633787..b0f0e44 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Changes
 
 * 2.4.next in progress
+  * Address [#459](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/issues/459) by making all operators variadic (except `:=` and `:<>`).
   * Address [#458](https://github.com/seancorfield/honeysql/issues/458) by adding `registered-*?` predicates.
 
 * 2.4.972 -- 2023-02-02
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0a64359..fe84434 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -893,11 +893,9 @@ If your database supports `<=>` as an operator, you can tell HoneySQL about it u
 
 ```clojure
 (sql/register-op! :<=>)
-;; default is a binary operator:
+;; all operators are assumed to be variadic:
 (-> (select :a) (where [:<=> :a "foo"]) sql/format)
 => ["SELECT a WHERE a <=> ?" "foo"]
-;; you can declare that an operator is variadic:
-(sql/register-op! :<=> :variadic true)
 (-> (select :a) (where [:<=> "food" :a "fool"]) sql/format)
 => ["SELECT a WHERE ? <=> a <=> ?" "food" "fool"]
 ```
diff --git a/doc/differences-from-1-x.md b/doc/differences-from-1-x.md
index 9819620..d5962fe 100644
--- a/doc/differences-from-1-x.md
+++ b/doc/differences-from-1-x.md
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ The protocols and multimethods in 1.x have all gone away. The primary extension
 
 You can also register new "functions" that can implement special syntax (such as `:array`, `:inline`, `:raw` etc above) via `honey.sql/register-fn!`. This accepts a "function" name as a keyword and a formatter which will generally be a function of two arguments: the function name (so formatters can be reused across different names) and a vector of the arguments the function should accept.
 
-And, finally, you can register new operators that will be recognized in expressions via `honey.sql/register-op!`. This accepts an operator name as a keyword and optional named parameters to indicate whether the operator is `:variadic` (the default is strictly binary) and whether it should ignore operands that evaluate to `nil` (via `:ignore-nil`). The latter can make it easier to construct complex expressions programmatically without having to worry about conditionally removing "optional" (`nil`) values.
+And, finally, you can register new operators that will be recognized in expressions via `honey.sql/register-op!`. This accepts an operator name as a keyword and an optional named parameter to indicate whether it should ignore operands that evaluate to `nil` (via `:ignore-nil`). That can make it easier to construct complex expressions programmatically without having to worry about conditionally removing "optional" (`nil`) values.
 
 > Note: because of the changes in the extension machinery between 1.x and 2.x, it is not possible to use the [nilenso/honeysql-postgress](https://github.com/nilenso/honeysql-postgres) library with HoneySQL 2.x but the goal is to incorporate all of the syntax from that library into the core of HoneySQL.
 
diff --git a/doc/getting-started.md b/doc/getting-started.md
index 490a5e6..e8b9924 100644
--- a/doc/getting-started.md
+++ b/doc/getting-started.md
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ Some "functions" are considered to be operators. In general,
 
 > Note: you can use the `:numbered true` option to `format` to produce SQL containing numbered placeholders, like `FOO(a, $1, $2)`, instead of positional placeholders (`?`).
 
-Operators can be strictly binary or variadic (most are strictly binary).
+Operators are all treated as variadic (except for `:=` and
+`:<>` / `:!=` / `:not=` which are binary and require exactly two operands).
 Special syntax can have zero or more arguments and each form is
 described in the [Special Syntax](special-syntax.md) section.
 
diff --git a/doc/operator-reference.md b/doc/operator-reference.md
index 383e996..dcbc8a6 100644
--- a/doc/operator-reference.md
+++ b/doc/operator-reference.md
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ can simply evaluate to `nil` instead).
 
 ## in
 
-Binary predicate for checking an expression is
+Predicate for checking an expression is
 is a member of a specified set of values.
 
 The two most common forms are:
@@ -73,16 +73,21 @@ This produces `(col1, col2) IN ...`
 
 > Note: This is a change from HoneySQL 1.x which accepted a sequence of column names but required more work for arbitrary expressions.
 
-## = <> < > <= >=
+## = <>
 
 Binary comparison operators. These expect exactly
 two arguments.
 
 `not=` and `!=` are accepted as aliases for `<>`.
 
+## < > <= >=
+
+Comparison operators. These expect exactly
+two arguments.
+
 ## is, is-not
 
-Binary predicates for `NULL` and Boolean values:
+Predicates for `NULL` and Boolean values:
 
 ```clojure
 {...
@@ -106,16 +111,15 @@ Binary predicates for `NULL` and Boolean values:
 
 ## mod, xor, + - * / % | & ^
 
-Mathematical and bitwise operators. `+` and `*` are
-variadic; the rest are strictly binary operators.
+Mathematical and bitwise operators.
 
 ## like, not like, ilike, not ilike, regexp
 
-Pattern matching binary operators. `regex` is accepted
+Pattern matching operators. `regex` is accepted
 as an alias for `regexp`.
 
 `similar-to` and `not-similar-to` are also supported.
 
 ## ||
 
-Variadic string concatenation operator.
+String concatenation operator.
diff --git a/src/honey/sql.cljc b/src/honey/sql.cljc
index 3cabe55..19e9c45 100644
--- a/src/honey/sql.cljc
+++ b/src/honey/sql.cljc
@@ -1279,7 +1279,6 @@
       (atom)))
 
 (def ^:private op-ignore-nil (atom #{:and :or}))
-(def ^:private op-variadic   (atom #{:and :or :+ :* :- :|| :&&}))
 
 (defn- unwrap [x opts]
   (if-let [m (meta x)]
@@ -1558,30 +1557,20 @@
         (format-dsl expr (assoc opts :nested true))
 
         (sequential? expr)
-        (let [op (sym->kw (first expr))]
-          (if (keyword? op)
-            (cond (contains? @infix-ops op)
-                  (if (contains? @op-variadic op) ; no aliases here, no special semantics
-                    (let [x (if (contains? @op-ignore-nil op)
-                              (remove nil? expr)
-                              expr)
-                          [sqls params]
-                          (reduce-sql (map #(format-expr % {:nested true})
-                                           (rest x)))]
-                      (into [(cond-> (str/join (str " " (sql-kw op) " ") sqls)
-                               nested
-                               (as-> s (str "(" s ")")))]
-                            params))
+        (let [op' (sym->kw (first expr))
+              op  (get infix-aliases op' op')]
+          (if (keyword? op')
+            (cond (contains? @infix-ops op')
+                  (if (contains? #{:= :<>} op)
                     (let [[_ a b & y] expr
                           _           (when (seq y)
                                         (throw (ex-info (str "only binary "
-                                                             op
+                                                             op'
                                                              " is supported")
                                                         {:expr expr})))
                           [s1 & p1]   (format-expr a {:nested true})
-                          [s2 & p2]   (format-expr b {:nested true})
-                          op          (get infix-aliases op op)]
-                      (-> (if (and (#{:= :<>} op) (or (nil? a) (nil? b)))
+                          [s2 & p2]   (format-expr b {:nested true})]
+                      (-> (if (or (nil? a) (nil? b))
                             (str (if (nil? a)
                                    (if (nil? b) "NULL" s2)
                                    s1)
@@ -1591,7 +1580,22 @@
                             (as-> s (str "(" s ")")))
                           (vector)
                           (into p1)
-                          (into p2))))
+                          (into p2)))
+                    (let [x (if (contains? @op-ignore-nil op)
+                              (remove nil? expr)
+                              expr)
+                          [sqls params]
+                          (reduce-sql (map #(format-expr % {:nested true})
+                                           (rest x)))]
+                      (when-not (pos? (count sqls))
+                        (throw (ex-info (str "no operands found for " op')
+                                        {:expr expr})))
+                      (into [(cond-> (str/join (str " " (sql-kw op) " ") sqls)
+                               (= 1 (count sqls))
+                               (as-> s (str (sql-kw op) " " s))
+                               nested
+                               (as-> s (str "(" s ")")))]
+                            params)))
                   (contains? #{:in :not-in} op)
                   (let [[sql & params] (format-in op (rest expr))]
                     (into [(if nested (str "(" sql ")") sql)] params))
@@ -1855,15 +1859,13 @@
   (contains? @special-syntax (sym->kw function)))
 
 (defn register-op!
-  "Register a new infix operator. Operators can be defined to be variadic (the
-  default is that they are binary) and may choose to ignore `nil` arguments
-  (this can make it easier to programmatically construct the DSL)."
-  [op & {:keys [variadic ignore-nil]}]
+  "Register a new infix operator. All operators are variadic and may choose
+  to ignore `nil` arguments (this can make it easier to programmatically
+  construct the DSL)."
+  [op & {:keys [ignore-nil]}]
   (let [op (sym->kw op)]
     (assert (keyword? op))
     (swap! infix-ops conj op)
-    (when variadic
-      (swap! op-variadic conj op))
     (when ignore-nil
       (swap! op-ignore-nil conj op))))
 
@@ -1955,7 +1957,7 @@
   (sql/format-expr [:primary-key])
   (sql/register-op! 'y)
   (sql/format {:where '[y 2 3]})
-  (sql/register-op! :<=> :variadic true :ignore-nil true)
+  (sql/register-op! :<=> :ignore-nil true)
   ;; and then use the new operator:
   (sql/format {:select [:*], :from [:table], :where [:<=> nil :x 42]})
   (sql/register-fn! :foo (fn [f args] ["FOO(?)" (first args)]))
diff --git a/src/honey/sql/pg_ops.cljc b/src/honey/sql/pg_ops.cljc
index fd3076f..ef66509 100644
--- a/src/honey/sql/pg_ops.cljc
+++ b/src/honey/sql/pg_ops.cljc
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 (def !regex  !tilde)
 (def !iregex !tilde*)
 
-(sql/register-op! :-> :variadic true)
+(sql/register-op! :->)
 (sql/register-op! :->>)
 (sql/register-op! :#>)
 (sql/register-op! :#>>)
diff --git a/test/honey/sql_test.cljc b/test/honey/sql_test.cljc
index 39e6426..4894d98 100644
--- a/test/honey/sql_test.cljc
+++ b/test/honey/sql_test.cljc
@@ -1062,3 +1062,12 @@ ORDER BY id = ? DESC
 (deftest issue-456-format-expr
   (is (= ["`x` + ?" 1]
          (sut/format [:+ :x 1] {:dialect :mysql}))))
+
+(deftest issue-459-variadic-ops
+  (sut/register-op! :op)
+  (is (= ["SELECT OP a"]
+         (sut/format {:select [[[:op :a]]]})))
+  (is (= ["SELECT a OP b"]
+         (sut/format {:select [[[:op :a :b]]]})))
+  (is (= ["SELECT a OP b OP c"]
+         (sut/format {:select [[[:op :a :b :c]]]}))))