diff --git a/src/libutil/xml-writer.cc b/src/libutil/xml-writer.cc
index 68857e34d..7993bee9a 100644
--- a/src/libutil/xml-writer.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/xml-writer.cc
@@ -31,11 +31,12 @@ void XMLWriter::close()
 void XMLWriter::indent_(size_t depth)
 {
     if (!indent) return;
-    output << string(depth * 2, ' ');
+    output << std::string(depth * 2, ' ');
 }
 
 
-void XMLWriter::openElement(const string & name,
+void XMLWriter::openElement(
+    std::string_view name,
     const XMLAttrs & attrs)
 {
     assert(!closed);
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ void XMLWriter::openElement(const string & name,
     writeAttrs(attrs);
     output << ">";
     if (indent) output << std::endl;
-    pendingElems.push_back(name);
+    pendingElems.push_back(std::string(name));
 }
 
 
@@ -59,7 +60,8 @@ void XMLWriter::closeElement()
 }
 
 
-void XMLWriter::writeEmptyElement(const string & name,
+void XMLWriter::writeEmptyElement(
+    std::string_view name,
     const XMLAttrs & attrs)
 {
     assert(!closed);
diff --git a/src/libutil/xml-writer.hh b/src/libutil/xml-writer.hh
index b98b44526..4c91adee6 100644
--- a/src/libutil/xml-writer.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/xml-writer.hh
@@ -8,12 +8,8 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-using std::string;
-using std::map;
-using std::list;
 
-
-typedef map<string, string> XMLAttrs;
+typedef std::map<std::string, std::string> XMLAttrs;
 
 
 class XMLWriter
@@ -25,7 +21,7 @@ private:
     bool indent;
     bool closed;
 
-    list<string> pendingElems;
+    std::list<std::string> pendingElems;
 
 public:
 
@@ -34,11 +30,11 @@ public:
 
     void close();
 
-    void openElement(const string & name,
+    void openElement(std::string_view name,
         const XMLAttrs & attrs = XMLAttrs());
     void closeElement();
 
-    void writeEmptyElement(const string & name,
+    void writeEmptyElement(std::string_view name,
         const XMLAttrs & attrs = XMLAttrs());
 
 private:
@@ -53,7 +49,7 @@ class XMLOpenElement
 private:
     XMLWriter & writer;
 public:
-    XMLOpenElement(XMLWriter & writer, const string & name,
+    XMLOpenElement(XMLWriter & writer, std::string_view name,
         const XMLAttrs & attrs = XMLAttrs())
         : writer(writer)
     {
diff --git a/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc b/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
index 52d07e3df..f83edb6a1 100644
--- a/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
+++ b/src/nix-env/nix-env.cc
@@ -833,7 +833,7 @@ static bool cmpElemByName(const DrvInfo & a, const DrvInfo & b)
 }
 
 
-typedef list<Strings> Table;
+typedef std::list<Strings> Table;
 
 
 void printTable(Table & table)