diff --git a/include/dwarfs/tool/pager.h b/include/dwarfs/tool/pager.h
index 493970b9..5e236290 100644
--- a/include/dwarfs/tool/pager.h
+++ b/include/dwarfs/tool/pager.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <optional>
 #include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 #include <vector>
 
 namespace dwarfs {
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ struct pager_program {
 };
 
 std::optional<pager_program> find_pager_program(os_access const& os);
-void show_in_pager(pager_program const& pager, std::string text);
+void show_in_pager(pager_program const& pager, std::string_view text);
 
 } // namespace tool
 
diff --git a/src/tool/pager.cpp b/src/tool/pager.cpp
index 21f1849a..1d7ed2c1 100644
--- a/src/tool/pager.cpp
+++ b/src/tool/pager.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ std::optional<pager_program> find_pager_program(os_access const& os) {
   return std::nullopt;
 }
 
-void show_in_pager(pager_program const& pager, std::string text) {
+void show_in_pager(pager_program const& pager, std::string_view text) {
   boost::asio::io_context ios;
   // NOLINTBEGIN(clang-analyzer-unix.BlockInCriticalSection)
   bp::child proc(pager.name.wstring(), bp::args(pager.args),