diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 71c151f96..8e89ddcf1 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -2436,7 +2436,7 @@ bool EvalState::eqValues(Value & v1, Value & v2, const PosIdx pos, std::string_v
             return v1.boolean == v2.boolean;
 
         case nString:
-            return v1.string_view().compare(v2.string_view()) == 0;
+            return strcmp(v1.c_str(), v2.c_str()) == 0;
 
         case nPath:
             return
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index d46eccd34..b7e903667 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ struct CompareValues
                 case nFloat:
                     return v1->fpoint < v2->fpoint;
                 case nString:
-                    return v1->string_view().compare(v2->string_view()) < 0;
+                    return strcmp(v1->c_str(), v2->c_str()) < 0;
                 case nPath:
                     // Note: we don't take the accessor into account
                     // since it's not obvious how to compare them in a
@@ -2401,7 +2401,7 @@ static void prim_attrNames(EvalState & state, const PosIdx pos, Value * * args,
         (v.listElems()[n++] = state.allocValue())->mkString(state.symbols[i.name]);
 
     std::sort(v.listElems(), v.listElems() + n,
-              [](Value * v1, Value * v2) { return v1->string_view().compare(v2->string_view()) < 0; });
+              [](Value * v1, Value * v2) { return strcmp(v1->c_str(), v2->c_str()) < 0; });
 }
 
 static RegisterPrimOp primop_attrNames({