An optical receiver may include a digital signal processor to receive an input sample that includes transmitted data, transmitted by an optical transmitter, and nonlinear distortion. The digital signal processor may process the input sample to generate an estimated data value. The estimated data value may be an estimate of the transmitted data. The digital signal processor may remove the estimated data value from the input sample to generate a noise sample. The digital signal processor may determine a nonlinear distortion value based on the input sample, the estimated data value, and the noise sample. The nonlinear distortion value may be an estimate of the nonlinear distortion included in the input sample. The digital signal processor may remove the nonlinear distortion value from the input sample to generate an output sample, and may output the output sample.