diff --git a/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.cpp b/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.cpp
index 6f6eb39a5..921e45599 100644
--- a/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const vector<string> Utils::split(const string &str, int delimiter)
     return result;
 }
 
-ESM::Cell Utils::getCellFromDescription(std::string cellDescription)
+ESM::Cell Utils::getCellFromDescription(const std::string &cellDescription)
 {
     ESM::Cell cell;
     cell.blank();
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ const std::string Utils::getLastError()
     return lastErrorMessage;
 }
 
-void Utils::throwError(const std::string errorMessage)
+void Utils::throwError(const std::string &errorMessage)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
     // Throwing exceptions makes them show up as "bad exception" on Windows with
diff --git a/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.hpp b/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.hpp
index b6aaedc75..6853ac46f 100644
--- a/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw-mp/Utils.hpp
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ namespace Utils
 {
     const std::vector<std::string> split(const std::string &str, int delimiter);
 
-    ESM::Cell getCellFromDescription(std::string cellDescription);
+    ESM::Cell getCellFromDescription(const std::string &cellDescription);
 
     const std::string getLastError();
 
-    void throwError(std::string errorMessage);
+    void throwError(const std::string &errorMessage);
 
     template<size_t N>
     constexpr unsigned int hash(const char(&str)[N], size_t I = N)