diff --git a/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.cpp b/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.cpp
index 3014256d..8b954c15 100644
--- a/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.cpp
+++ b/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ namespace Detail {
         class FileStream : public IStream {
             mutable std::ofstream m_ofs;
         public:
-            FileStream( StringRef filename ) {
+            FileStream( std::string const& filename ) {
                 m_ofs.open( filename.c_str() );
                 CATCH_ENFORCE( !m_ofs.fail(), "Unable to open file: '" << filename << "'" );
             }
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ namespace Detail {
 
     ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-    auto makeStream( StringRef const &filename ) -> IStream const* {
+    auto makeStream( std::string const& filename ) -> IStream const* {
         if( filename.empty() )
             return new Detail::CoutStream();
         else if( filename[0] == '%' ) {
diff --git a/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.hpp b/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.hpp
index 5f24fc38..4ff012d2 100644
--- a/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.hpp
+++ b/src/catch2/internal/catch_stream.hpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <iosfwd>
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <ostream>
+#include <string>
 
 namespace Catch {
 
@@ -20,14 +21,12 @@ namespace Catch {
     std::ostream& cerr();
     std::ostream& clog();
 
-    class StringRef;
-
     struct IStream {
         virtual ~IStream();
         virtual std::ostream& stream() const = 0;
     };
 
-    auto makeStream( StringRef const &filename ) -> IStream const*;
+    auto makeStream( std::string const& filename ) -> IStream const*;
 
     class ReusableStringStream : Detail::NonCopyable {
         std::size_t m_index;