diff --git a/src/buffer.cc b/src/buffer.cc
index cd014574..e140f333 100644
--- a/src/buffer.cc
+++ b/src/buffer.cc
@@ -199,9 +199,9 @@ struct Buffer::Modification
 
     Type      type;
     ByteCoord coord;
-    SharedString content;
+    StringDataPtr content;
 
-    Modification(Type type, ByteCoord coord, SharedString content)
+    Modification(Type type, ByteCoord coord, StringDataPtr content)
         : type(type), coord(coord), content(std::move(content)) {}
 
     Modification inverse() const
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ void Buffer::reload(StringView data, timespec fs_timestamp)
                 for (LineCount line = 0; line < d.len; ++line)
                     m_current_undo_group.emplace_back(
                         Modification::Insert, cur_line + line,
-                        SharedString{parsed_lines.lines[(int)(d.posB + line)]});
+                        parsed_lines.lines[(int)(d.posB + line)]);
 
                 m_changes.push_back({ Change::Insert, it == m_lines.end(), cur_line, cur_line + d.len });
                 m_lines.insert(it, &parsed_lines.lines[d.posB], &parsed_lines.lines[d.posB + d.len]);
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ void Buffer::reload(StringView data, timespec fs_timestamp)
                 for (LineCount line = d.len-1; line >= 0; --line)
                     m_current_undo_group.emplace_back(
                         Modification::Erase, cur_line + line,
-                        SharedString{m_lines.get_storage(cur_line + line)});
+                        m_lines.get_storage(cur_line + line));
 
                 it = m_lines.erase(it, it + d.len);
                 m_changes.push_back({ Change::Erase, it == m_lines.end(), cur_line, cur_line + d.len });
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ ByteCoord Buffer::do_erase(ByteCoord begin, ByteCoord end)
 
 void Buffer::apply_modification(const Modification& modification)
 {
-    StringView content = modification.content;
+    StringView content = modification.content->strview();
     ByteCoord coord = modification.coord;
 
     kak_assert(is_valid(coord));
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ BufferIterator Buffer::insert(const BufferIterator& pos, StringView content)
     if (content.empty())
         return pos;
 
-    SharedString real_content;
+    StringDataPtr real_content;
     if (pos == end() and content.back() != '\n')
         real_content = intern(content + "\n");
     else
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ BufferIterator Buffer::insert(const BufferIterator& pos, StringView content)
     auto coord = pos == end() ? ByteCoord{line_count()} : pos.coord();
     if (not (m_flags & Flags::NoUndo))
         m_current_undo_group.emplace_back(Modification::Insert, coord, real_content);
-    return {*this, do_insert(pos.coord(), real_content)};
+    return {*this, do_insert(pos.coord(), real_content->strview())};
 }
 
 BufferIterator Buffer::erase(BufferIterator begin, BufferIterator end)
diff --git a/src/shared_string.cc b/src/shared_string.cc
index b594a56f..9d816a58 100644
--- a/src/shared_string.cc
+++ b/src/shared_string.cc
@@ -4,22 +4,22 @@
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
-SharedString StringRegistry::intern(StringView str)
+StringDataPtr StringRegistry::intern(StringView str)
 {
-    auto it = m_strings.find({str, SharedString::NoCopy{}});
+    auto it = m_strings.find(str);
     if (it == m_strings.end())
     {
-        SharedString shared_str = str;
-        it = m_strings.emplace(shared_str).first;
+        auto data = StringData::create(str);
+        it = m_strings.emplace(data->strview(), data).first;
     }
-    return *it;
+    return it->second;
 }
 
 void StringRegistry::purge_unused()
 {
     for (auto it = m_strings.begin(); it != m_strings.end(); )
     {
-        if (it->m_storage->refcount == 1)
+        if (it->second->refcount == 1)
             it = m_strings.erase(it);
         else
             ++it;
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ void StringRegistry::debug_stats() const
     size_t count = m_strings.size();
     for (auto& st : m_strings)
     {
-        total_refcount += st.m_storage->refcount - 1;
-        total_size += (int)st.m_storage->length;
+        total_refcount += st.second->refcount - 1;
+        total_size += (int)st.second->length;
     }
     write_to_debug_buffer(format("  data size: {}, mean: {}", total_size, (float)total_size/count));
     write_to_debug_buffer(format("  refcounts: {}, mean: {}", total_refcount, (float)total_refcount/count));
diff --git a/src/shared_string.hh b/src/shared_string.hh
index 1aadafd0..2dfc3d38 100644
--- a/src/shared_string.hh
+++ b/src/shared_string.hh
@@ -102,14 +102,14 @@ class StringRegistry : public Singleton<StringRegistry>
 {
 public:
     void debug_stats() const;
-    SharedString intern(StringView str);
+    StringDataPtr intern(StringView str);
     void purge_unused();
 
 private:
-    UnorderedSet<SharedString, MemoryDomain::SharedString> m_strings;
+    UnorderedMap<StringView, StringDataPtr, MemoryDomain::SharedString> m_strings;
 };
 
-inline SharedString intern(StringView str)
+inline StringDataPtr intern(StringView str)
 {
     return StringRegistry::instance().intern(str);
 }
diff --git a/src/word_db.cc b/src/word_db.cc
index 147287b5..51af7a3f 100644
--- a/src/word_db.cc
+++ b/src/word_db.cc
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ void WordDB::add_words(const SharedString& line)
 {
     for (auto& w : get_words(line))
     {
-        WordDB::WordInfo& info = m_words[intern(w)];
+        WordDB::WordInfo& info = m_words[SharedString{intern(w)}];
         ++info.refcount;
         if (info.letters.none())
             info.letters = used_letters(w);