diff --git a/src/Cmd/Tidy.cc b/src/Cmd/Tidy.cc
index 3f57404e3..4d9c1c5e4 100644
--- a/src/Cmd/Tidy.cc
+++ b/src/Cmd/Tidy.cc
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ const Subcmd TIDY_CMD =
         .setMainFn(tidyMain);
 
 static int
-tidyImpl(const String& makeCmd) {
+tidyImpl(const StringRef makeCmd) {
   const auto start = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
 
   const int exitCode = execCmd(makeCmd);
diff --git a/src/VersionReq.cc b/src/VersionReq.cc
index 224faeb9c..83f326612 100644
--- a/src/VersionReq.cc
+++ b/src/VersionReq.cc
@@ -821,15 +821,17 @@ VersionReq::toString() const noexcept {
 }
 
 String
-VersionReq::toPkgConfigString(const String& name) const noexcept {
+VersionReq::toPkgConfigString(const StringRef name) const noexcept {
   // For pkg-config, canonicalization is necessary.
   const VersionReq req = canonicalize();
 
-  String result = name;
+  String result(name);
   result += ' ';
   result += req.left.toPkgConfigString();
   if (req.right.has_value()) {
-    result += ", " + name + ' ';
+    result += ", ";
+    result += name;
+    result += ' ';
     result += req.right->toPkgConfigString();
   }
   return result;
diff --git a/src/VersionReq.hpp b/src/VersionReq.hpp
index 49773a2cc..ba5480922 100644
--- a/src/VersionReq.hpp
+++ b/src/VersionReq.hpp
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ struct VersionReq {
   static VersionReq parse(StringRef str);
   bool satisfiedBy(const Version& ver) const noexcept;
   String toString() const noexcept;
-  String toPkgConfigString(const String& name) const noexcept;
+  String toPkgConfigString(StringRef name) const noexcept;
   VersionReq canonicalize() const noexcept;
   bool canSimplify() const noexcept;
 };