diff --git a/src/libexpr/attr-set.hh b/src/libexpr/attr-set.hh
index 82c348287..3e4899efc 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/attr-set.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/attr-set.hh
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ class BindingsBuilder
     Bindings * bindings;
 
 public:
+    // needed by std::back_inserter
+    using value_type = Attr;
 
     EvalState & state;
 
@@ -134,6 +136,11 @@ public:
     }
 
     void insert(const Attr & attr)
+    {
+        push_back(attr);
+    }
+
+    void push_back(const Attr & attr)
     {
         bindings->push_back(attr);
     }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 61bccd6e2..94ffab175 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -425,6 +425,11 @@ EvalState::EvalState(
     , sDescription(symbols.create("description"))
     , sSelf(symbols.create("self"))
     , sEpsilon(symbols.create(""))
+    , sStartSet(symbols.create("startSet"))
+    , sOperator(symbols.create("operator"))
+    , sKey(symbols.create("key"))
+    , sPath(symbols.create("path"))
+    , sPrefix(symbols.create("prefix"))
     , repair(NoRepair)
     , emptyBindings(0)
     , store(store)
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.hh b/src/libexpr/eval.hh
index 850c5bae6..82ce9d1b3 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.hh
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ public:
         sContentAddressed,
         sOutputHash, sOutputHashAlgo, sOutputHashMode,
         sRecurseForDerivations,
-        sDescription, sSelf, sEpsilon;
+        sDescription, sSelf, sEpsilon, sStartSet, sOperator, sKey, sPath,
+        sPrefix;
     Symbol sDerivationNix;
 
     /* If set, force copying files to the Nix store even if they
@@ -399,6 +400,7 @@ private:
     friend struct ExprSelect;
     friend void prim_getAttr(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v);
     friend void prim_match(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v);
+    friend void prim_split(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v);
 
     friend struct Value;
 };
diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index b819918ad..5c476ddd4 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 #include "value-to-xml.hh"
 #include "primops.hh"
 
+#include <boost/container/small_vector.hpp>
+
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -592,16 +594,16 @@ typedef list<Value *> ValueList;
 
 static Bindings::iterator getAttr(
     EvalState & state,
-    string funcName,
-    string attrName,
+    std::string_view funcName,
+    Symbol attrSym,
     Bindings * attrSet,
     const Pos & pos)
 {
-    Bindings::iterator value = attrSet->find(state.symbols.create(attrName));
+    Bindings::iterator value = attrSet->find(attrSym);
     if (value == attrSet->end()) {
         hintformat errorMsg = hintfmt(
             "attribute '%s' missing for call to '%s'",
-            attrName,
+            attrSym,
             funcName
         );
 
@@ -635,7 +637,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
     Bindings::iterator startSet = getAttr(
         state,
         "genericClosure",
-        "startSet",
+        state.sStartSet,
         args[0]->attrs,
         pos
     );
@@ -650,7 +652,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
     Bindings::iterator op = getAttr(
         state,
         "genericClosure",
-        "operator",
+        state.sOperator,
         args[0]->attrs,
         pos
     );
@@ -672,7 +674,7 @@ static void prim_genericClosure(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * ar
         state.forceAttrs(*e, pos);
 
         Bindings::iterator key =
-            e->attrs->find(state.symbols.create("key"));
+            e->attrs->find(state.sKey);
         if (key == e->attrs->end())
             throw EvalError({
                 .msg = hintfmt("attribute 'key' required"),
@@ -1079,10 +1081,10 @@ static void prim_derivationStrict(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * *
                 } else {
                     auto s = state.coerceToString(*i->pos, *i->value, context, true);
                     drv.env.emplace(key, s);
-                    if (i->name == state.sBuilder) drv.builder = s;
-                    else if (i->name == state.sSystem) drv.platform = s;
-                    else if (i->name == state.sOutputHash) outputHash = s;
-                    else if (i->name == state.sOutputHashAlgo) outputHashAlgo = s;
+                    if (i->name == state.sBuilder) drv.builder = std::move(s);
+                    else if (i->name == state.sSystem) drv.platform = std::move(s);
+                    else if (i->name == state.sOutputHash) outputHash = std::move(s);
+                    else if (i->name == state.sOutputHashAlgo) outputHashAlgo = std::move(s);
                     else if (i->name == state.sOutputHashMode) handleHashMode(s);
                     else if (i->name == state.sOutputs)
                         handleOutputs(tokenizeString<Strings>(s));
@@ -1498,14 +1500,14 @@ static void prim_findFile(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Va
         state.forceAttrs(*v2, pos);
 
         string prefix;
-        Bindings::iterator i = v2->attrs->find(state.symbols.create("prefix"));
+        Bindings::iterator i = v2->attrs->find(state.sPrefix);
         if (i != v2->attrs->end())
             prefix = state.forceStringNoCtx(*i->value, pos);
 
         i = getAttr(
             state,
             "findFile",
-            "path",
+            state.sPath,
             v2->attrs,
             pos
         );
@@ -2163,7 +2165,10 @@ static void prim_attrValues(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args,
         v.listElems()[n++] = (Value *) &i;
 
     std::sort(v.listElems(), v.listElems() + n,
-        [](Value * v1, Value * v2) { return (string) ((Attr *) v1)->name < (string) ((Attr *) v2)->name; });
+        [](Value * v1, Value * v2) {
+            std::string_view s1 = ((Attr *) v1)->name, s2 = ((Attr *) v2)->name;
+            return s1 < s2;
+        });
 
     for (unsigned int i = 0; i < n; ++i)
         v.listElems()[i] = ((Attr *) v.listElems()[i])->value;
@@ -2184,11 +2189,10 @@ void prim_getAttr(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v)
 {
     string attr = state.forceStringNoCtx(*args[0], pos);
     state.forceAttrs(*args[1], pos);
-    // !!! Should we create a symbol here or just do a lookup?
     Bindings::iterator i = getAttr(
         state,
         "getAttr",
-        attr,
+        state.symbols.create(attr),
         args[1]->attrs,
         pos
     );
@@ -2268,21 +2272,25 @@ static void prim_removeAttrs(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args,
     state.forceAttrs(*args[0], pos);
     state.forceList(*args[1], pos);
 
-    /* Get the attribute names to be removed. */
-    std::set<Symbol> names;
+    /* Get the attribute names to be removed.
+       We keep them as Attrs instead of Symbols so std::set_difference
+       can be used to remove them from attrs[0]. */
+    boost::container::small_vector<Attr, 64> names;
+    names.reserve(args[1]->listSize());
     for (auto elem : args[1]->listItems()) {
         state.forceStringNoCtx(*elem, pos);
-        names.insert(state.symbols.create(elem->string.s));
+        names.emplace_back(state.symbols.create(elem->string.s), nullptr);
     }
+    std::sort(names.begin(), names.end());
 
     /* Copy all attributes not in that set.  Note that we don't need
        to sort v.attrs because it's a subset of an already sorted
        vector. */
     auto attrs = state.buildBindings(args[0]->attrs->size());
-    for (auto & i : *args[0]->attrs) {
-        if (!names.count(i.name))
-            attrs.insert(i);
-    }
+    std::set_difference(
+        args[0]->attrs->begin(), args[0]->attrs->end(),
+        names.begin(), names.end(),
+        std::back_inserter(attrs));
     v.mkAttrs(attrs.alreadySorted());
 }
 
@@ -3520,18 +3528,20 @@ static RegisterPrimOp primop_match({
 
 /* Split a string with a regular expression, and return a list of the
    non-matching parts interleaved by the lists of the matching groups. */
-static void prim_split(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v)
+void prim_split(EvalState & state, const Pos & pos, Value * * args, Value & v)
 {
     auto re = state.forceStringNoCtx(*args[0], pos);
 
     try {
 
-        std::regex regex(re, std::regex::extended);
+        auto regex = state.regexCache->cache.find(re);
+        if (regex == state.regexCache->cache.end())
+            regex = state.regexCache->cache.emplace(re, std::regex(re, std::regex::extended)).first;
 
         PathSet context;
         const std::string str = state.forceString(*args[1], context, pos);
 
-        auto begin = std::sregex_iterator(str.begin(), str.end(), regex);
+        auto begin = std::sregex_iterator(str.begin(), str.end(), regex->second);
         auto end = std::sregex_iterator();
 
         // Any matches results are surrounded by non-matching results.
diff --git a/src/libutil/types.hh b/src/libutil/types.hh
index 9c85fef62..8f72c926f 100644
--- a/src/libutil/types.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/types.hh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ typedef std::map<string, string> StringMap;
 /* Paths are just strings. */
 
 typedef string Path;
+typedef std::string_view PathView;
 typedef list<Path> Paths;
 typedef set<Path> PathSet;
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index 3e7a9e2f3..1f1f2c861 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -106,16 +106,16 @@ Path absPath(Path path, std::optional<Path> dir, bool resolveSymlinks)
 }
 
 
-Path canonPath(const Path & path, bool resolveSymlinks)
+Path canonPath(PathView path, bool resolveSymlinks)
 {
     assert(path != "");
 
     string s;
+    s.reserve(256);
 
     if (path[0] != '/')
         throw Error("not an absolute path: '%1%'", path);
 
-    string::const_iterator i = path.begin(), end = path.end();
     string temp;
 
     /* Count the number of times we follow a symlink and stop at some
@@ -125,33 +125,37 @@ Path canonPath(const Path & path, bool resolveSymlinks)
     while (1) {
 
         /* Skip slashes. */
-        while (i != end && *i == '/') i++;
-        if (i == end) break;
+        while (!path.empty() && path[0] == '/') path.remove_prefix(1);
+        if (path.empty()) break;
 
         /* Ignore `.'. */
-        if (*i == '.' && (i + 1 == end || i[1] == '/'))
-            i++;
+        if (path == "." || path.substr(0, 2) == "./")
+            path.remove_prefix(1);
 
         /* If `..', delete the last component. */
-        else if (*i == '.' && i + 1 < end && i[1] == '.' &&
-            (i + 2 == end || i[2] == '/'))
+        else if (path == ".." || path.substr(0, 3) == "../")
         {
             if (!s.empty()) s.erase(s.rfind('/'));
-            i += 2;
+            path.remove_prefix(2);
         }
 
         /* Normal component; copy it. */
         else {
             s += '/';
-            while (i != end && *i != '/') s += *i++;
+            if (const auto slash = path.find('/'); slash == string::npos) {
+                s += path;
+                path = {};
+            } else {
+                s += path.substr(0, slash);
+                path = path.substr(slash + 1);
+            }
 
             /* If s points to a symlink, resolve it and continue from there */
             if (resolveSymlinks && isLink(s)) {
                 if (++followCount >= maxFollow)
                     throw Error("infinite symlink recursion in path '%1%'", path);
-                temp = readLink(s) + string(i, end);
-                i = temp.begin();
-                end = temp.end();
+                temp = concatStrings(readLink(s), path);
+                path = temp;
                 if (!temp.empty() && temp[0] == '/') {
                     s.clear();  /* restart for symlinks pointing to absolute path */
                 } else {
@@ -164,7 +168,7 @@ Path canonPath(const Path & path, bool resolveSymlinks)
         }
     }
 
-    return s.empty() ? "/" : s;
+    return s.empty() ? "/" : std::move(s);
 }
 
 
@@ -1231,23 +1235,22 @@ void _interrupted()
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 
-template<class C> C tokenizeString(std::string_view s, const string & separators)
+template<class C> C tokenizeString(std::string_view s, std::string_view separators)
 {
     C result;
     string::size_type pos = s.find_first_not_of(separators, 0);
     while (pos != string::npos) {
         string::size_type end = s.find_first_of(separators, pos + 1);
         if (end == string::npos) end = s.size();
-        string token(s, pos, end - pos);
-        result.insert(result.end(), token);
+        result.insert(result.end(), string(s, pos, end - pos));
         pos = s.find_first_not_of(separators, end);
     }
     return result;
 }
 
-template Strings tokenizeString(std::string_view s, const string & separators);
-template StringSet tokenizeString(std::string_view s, const string & separators);
-template vector<string> tokenizeString(std::string_view s, const string & separators);
+template Strings tokenizeString(std::string_view s, std::string_view separators);
+template StringSet tokenizeString(std::string_view s, std::string_view separators);
+template vector<string> tokenizeString(std::string_view s, std::string_view separators);
 
 
 string chomp(std::string_view s)
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index c900033f8..369c44f78 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Path absPath(Path path,
    double or trailing slashes.  Optionally resolves all symlink
    components such that each component of the resulting path is *not*
    a symbolic link. */
-Path canonPath(const Path & path, bool resolveSymlinks = false);
+Path canonPath(PathView path, bool resolveSymlinks = false);
 
 /* Return the directory part of the given canonical path, i.e.,
    everything before the final `/'.  If the path is the root or an
@@ -368,15 +368,19 @@ MakeError(FormatError, Error);
 
 
 /* String tokenizer. */
-template<class C> C tokenizeString(std::string_view s, const string & separators = " \t\n\r");
+template<class C> C tokenizeString(std::string_view s, std::string_view separators = " \t\n\r");
 
 
 /* Concatenate the given strings with a separator between the
    elements. */
 template<class C>
-string concatStringsSep(const string & sep, const C & ss)
+string concatStringsSep(const std::string_view sep, const C & ss)
 {
+    size_t size = 0;
+    // need a cast to string_view since this is also called with Symbols
+    for (const auto & s : ss) size += sep.size() + std::string_view(s).size();
     string s;
+    s.reserve(size);
     for (auto & i : ss) {
         if (s.size() != 0) s += sep;
         s += i;
@@ -384,6 +388,14 @@ string concatStringsSep(const string & sep, const C & ss)
     return s;
 }
 
+template<class ... Parts>
+auto concatStrings(Parts && ... parts)
+    -> std::enable_if_t<(... && std::is_convertible_v<Parts, std::string_view>), string>
+{
+    std::string_view views[sizeof...(parts)] = { parts... };
+    return concatStringsSep({}, views);
+}
+
 
 /* Add quotes around a collection of strings. */
 template<class C> Strings quoteStrings(const C & c)