diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 464849f..74951c1 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "marine-sqlite-connector"
-version = "0.5.0"
+version = "0.5.1"
 license = "Apache-2.0/MIT"
 authors = [
     "Daniel Dulaney <ddy@vitronic.com>",
diff --git a/src/connection.rs b/src/connection.rs
index bf6cd45..d2d8bc0 100644
--- a/src/connection.rs
+++ b/src/connection.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ impl Connection {
         unsafe {
             let path = path.as_ref();
             let path = path.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
-            let result = ffi::sqlite3_open_v2(path, flags.0, String::new());
+            let result = ffi::sqlite3_open_v2(&path, flags.0, &String::new());
 
             match result.ret_code {
                 ffi::SQLITE_OK => {}
diff --git a/src/sqlite3_connector/import_functions.rs b/src/sqlite3_connector/import_functions.rs
index c888b20..4f60898 100644
--- a/src/sqlite3_connector/import_functions.rs
+++ b/src/sqlite3_connector/import_functions.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ extern "C" {
        const char *zVfs        /* Name of VFS module to use */
       );
     */
-    pub fn sqlite3_open_v2(filename: String, flags: i32, vfs: String) -> DBOpenDescriptor;
+    pub fn sqlite3_open_v2(filename: &str, flags: i32, vfs: &str) -> DBOpenDescriptor;
 
     // SQLITE_API int sqlite3_close(sqlite3*);
     pub fn sqlite3_close(db_handle: u32) -> i32;
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ extern "C" {
        const char **pzTail     /* OUT: Pointer to unused portion of zSql */
      );
     */
-    pub fn sqlite3_prepare_v2(db_handle: u32, sql: String) -> DBPrepareDescriptor;
+    pub fn sqlite3_prepare_v2(db_handle: u32, sql: &str) -> DBPrepareDescriptor;
 
     /*
      SQLITE_API int sqlite3_exec(
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ extern "C" {
     */
     pub fn sqlite3_exec(
         db_handle: u32,
-        sql: String,
+        sql: &str,
         callback_id: i32,
         callback_arg: i32,
     ) -> DBExecDescriptor;
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ extern "C" {
     pub fn sqlite3_reset(stmt_handle: u32) -> i32;
 
     // SQLITE_API int sqlite3_bind_blob(sqlite3_stmt*, int, const void*, int n, void(*)(void*));
-    pub fn sqlite3_bind_blob(stmt_handle: u32, pos: i32, blob: Vec<u8>, xDel: i32) -> i32;
+    pub fn sqlite3_bind_blob(stmt_handle: u32, pos: i32, blob: &Vec<u8>, xDel: i32) -> i32;
 
     // SQLITE_API int sqlite3_bind_double(sqlite3_stmt*, int, double);
     pub fn sqlite3_bind_double(stmt_handle: u32, pos: i32, value: f64) -> i32;
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ extern "C" {
     pub fn sqlite3_bind_null(stmt_handle: u32, pos: i32) -> i32;
 
     // SQLITE_API int sqlite3_bind_text(sqlite3_stmt*,int,const char*,int,void(*)(void*));
-    pub fn sqlite3_bind_text(stmt_handle: u32, pos: i32, text: String, xDel: i32) -> i32;
+    pub fn sqlite3_bind_text(stmt_handle: u32, pos: i32, text: &str, xDel: i32) -> i32;
 
     // SQLITE_API int sqlite3_column_count(sqlite3_stmt *pStmt)
     pub fn sqlite3_column_count(stmt_handle: u32) -> i32;
diff --git a/src/statement.rs b/src/statement.rs
index 5e00d3b..d362ce4 100644
--- a/src/statement.rs
+++ b/src/statement.rs
@@ -128,16 +128,16 @@ impl<'l> Drop for Statement {
 impl Bindable for &Value {
     fn bind(self, statement: &mut Statement, i: usize) -> Result<()> {
         match self {
-            &Value::Binary(ref value) => (value as &[u8]).bind(statement, i),
+            Value::Binary(value) => value.bind(statement, i),
             &Value::Float(value) => value.bind(statement, i),
             &Value::Integer(value) => value.bind(statement, i),
-            &Value::String(ref value) => (value as &str).bind(statement, i),
-            &Value::Null => ().bind(statement, i),
+            Value::String(value) => value.as_str().bind(statement, i),
+            Value::Null => ().bind(statement, i),
         }
     }
 }
 
-impl Bindable for &[u8] {
+impl Bindable for &Vec<u8> {
     #[inline]
     fn bind(self, statement: &mut Statement, i: usize) -> Result<()> {
         debug_assert!(i > 0, "the indexing starts from 1");