diff --git a/src/command_manager.cc b/src/command_manager.cc
index 42e7f802..f777eeda 100644
--- a/src/command_manager.cc
+++ b/src/command_manager.cc
@@ -121,11 +121,11 @@ QuotedResult parse_quoted_balanced(Reader& reader, char opening_delimiter,
         {
             auto content = reader.substr_from(start);
             ++reader.pos;
-            return {content.str(), true};
+            return {String{String::NoCopy{}, content}, true};
         }
         ++reader.pos;
     }
-    return {reader.substr_from(start).str(), false};
+    return {String{String::NoCopy{}, reader.substr_from(start)}, false};
 }
 
 String parse_unquoted(Reader& reader)
diff --git a/src/string.cc b/src/string.cc
index 6ff89450..d44963ba 100644
--- a/src/string.cc
+++ b/src/string.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
+String::Data::Data(String::NoCopy, const char* data, size_t size)
+{
+    l.ptr = const_cast<char*>(data);
+    l.size = size;
+    l.capacity = 0;
+}
+
 String::Data::Data(const char* data, size_t size, size_t capacity)
 {
     if (capacity > Short::capacity)
@@ -71,7 +78,7 @@ String::Data& String::Data::operator=(Data&& other) noexcept
 template<bool copy>
 void String::Data::reserve(size_t new_capacity)
 {
-    if (new_capacity <= capacity())
+    if (capacity() != 0 and new_capacity <= capacity())
         return;
 
     if (is_long())
@@ -123,7 +130,7 @@ void String::Data::clear()
 
 void String::Data::release()
 {
-    if (is_long())
+    if (is_long() and l.capacity != 0)
         Alloc{}.deallocate(l.ptr, l.capacity+1);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/string.hh b/src/string.hh
index ae41642c..e69be344 100644
--- a/src/string.hh
+++ b/src/string.hh
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@ public:
 
     explicit String(StringView str);
 
+    struct NoCopy{};
+    String(NoCopy, StringView str);
+
     [[gnu::always_inline]]
     char* data() { return m_data.data(); }
 
@@ -175,6 +178,7 @@ public:
         } s;
 
         Data() { set_empty(); }
+        Data(NoCopy, const char* data, size_t size);
         Data(const char* data, size_t size, size_t capacity);
         Data(const char* data, size_t size) : Data(data, size, size) {}
         Data(const Data& other) : Data{other.data(), other.size()} {}
@@ -257,6 +261,7 @@ template<> struct HashCompatible<String, StringView> : std::true_type {};
 template<> struct HashCompatible<StringView, String> : std::true_type {};
 
 inline String::String(StringView str) : String{str.begin(), str.length()} {}
+inline String::String(NoCopy, StringView str) : m_data{NoCopy{}, str.begin(), (size_t)str.length()} {}
 
 template<typename Type, typename CharType>
 inline StringView StringOps<Type, CharType>::substr(ByteCount from, ByteCount length) const