diff --git a/src/libexpr/lexer.l b/src/libexpr/lexer.l
index c18877e29..70e99d2d2 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/lexer.l
+++ b/src/libexpr/lexer.l
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ or          { return OR_KW; }
 \/\/        { return UPDATE; }
 \+\+        { return CONCAT; }
 
-{ID}        { yylval->id = strdup(yytext); return ID; }
+{ID}        { yylval->id = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng}; return ID; }
 {INT}       { errno = 0;
               try {
                   yylval->n = boost::lexical_cast<int64_t>(yytext);
@@ -221,14 +221,14 @@ or          { return OR_KW; }
 <PATH_START>{PATH_SEG} {
   POP_STATE();
   PUSH_STATE(INPATH_SLASH);
-  yylval->path = strdup(yytext);
+  yylval->path = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng};
   return PATH;
 }
 
 <PATH_START>{HPATH_START} {
   POP_STATE();
   PUSH_STATE(INPATH_SLASH);
-  yylval->path = strdup(yytext);
+  yylval->path = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng};
   return HPATH;
 }
 
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ or          { return OR_KW; }
     PUSH_STATE(INPATH_SLASH);
   else
     PUSH_STATE(INPATH);
-  yylval->path = strdup(yytext);
+  yylval->path = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng};
   return PATH;
 }
 {HPATH} {
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ or          { return OR_KW; }
     PUSH_STATE(INPATH_SLASH);
   else
     PUSH_STATE(INPATH);
-  yylval->path = strdup(yytext);
+  yylval->path = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng};
   return HPATH;
 }
 
@@ -280,8 +280,8 @@ or          { return OR_KW; }
   throw ParseError("path has a trailing slash");
 }
 
-{SPATH}     { yylval->path = strdup(yytext); return SPATH; }
-{URI}       { yylval->uri = strdup(yytext); return URI; }
+{SPATH}     { yylval->path = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng}; return SPATH; }
+{URI}       { yylval->uri = {yytext, (size_t) yyleng}; return URI; }
 
 [ \t\r\n]+    /* eat up whitespace */
 \#[^\r\n]*    /* single-line comments */
diff --git a/src/libexpr/parser.y b/src/libexpr/parser.y
index f8aaea582..049a149cc 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/parser.y
+++ b/src/libexpr/parser.y
@@ -273,9 +273,16 @@ void yyerror(YYLTYPE * loc, yyscan_t scanner, ParseData * data, const char * err
   nix::Formal * formal;
   nix::NixInt n;
   nix::NixFloat nf;
-  const char * id; // !!! -> Symbol
-  char * path;
-  char * uri;
+  // using C a struct allows us to avoid having to define the special
+  // members that using string_view here would implicitly delete.
+  struct StringToken {
+    const char * p;
+    size_t l;
+    operator std::string_view() const { return {p, l}; }
+  };
+  StringToken id; // !!! -> Symbol
+  StringToken path;
+  StringToken uri;
   std::vector<nix::AttrName> * attrNames;
   std::vector<std::pair<nix::Pos, nix::Expr *> > * string_parts;
 }
@@ -397,7 +404,7 @@ expr_select
 
 expr_simple
   : ID {
-      if (strcmp($1, "__curPos") == 0)
+      if (strncmp($1.p, "__curPos", $1.l) == 0)
           $$ = new ExprPos(CUR_POS);
       else
           $$ = new ExprVar(CUR_POS, data->symbols.create($1));
@@ -414,7 +421,7 @@ expr_simple
       $$ = new ExprConcatStrings(CUR_POS, false, $2);
   }
   | SPATH {
-      string path($1 + 1, strlen($1) - 2);
+      string path($1.p + 1, $1.l - 2);
       $$ = new ExprCall(CUR_POS,
           new ExprVar(data->symbols.create("__findFile")),
           {new ExprVar(data->symbols.create("__nixPath")),
@@ -460,14 +467,14 @@ string_parts_interpolated
 
 path_start
   : PATH {
-    Path path(absPath($1, data->basePath));
+    Path path(absPath({$1.p, $1.l}, data->basePath));
     /* add back in the trailing '/' to the first segment */
-    if ($1[strlen($1)-1] == '/' && strlen($1) > 1)
+    if ($1.p[$1.l-1] == '/' && $1.l > 1)
       path += "/";
     $$ = new ExprPath(path);
   }
   | HPATH {
-    Path path(getHome() + string($1 + 1));
+    Path path(getHome() + string($1.p + 1, $1.l - 1));
     $$ = new ExprPath(path);
   }
   ;
@@ -543,7 +550,7 @@ attrpath
 
 attr
   : ID { $$ = $1; }
-  | OR_KW { $$ = "or"; }
+  | OR_KW { $$ = {"or", 2}; }
   ;
 
 string_attr