diff --git a/src/Session.cpp b/src/Session.cpp
index f813b112..d93e9958 100644
--- a/src/Session.cpp
+++ b/src/Session.cpp
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ void Session::setCodec(QTextCodec* codec)
     emulation()->setCodec(codec);
 }
 
-bool Session::setCodec(QByteArray name)
+bool Session::setCodec(const QByteArray& name)
 {
     QTextCodec* codec = QTextCodec::codecForName(name);
 
diff --git a/src/Session.h b/src/Session.h
index 08cb9a71..9de5454b 100644
--- a/src/Session.h
+++ b/src/Session.h
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ public slots:
       * Overloaded to accept a QByteArray for convenience since DBus
       * does not accept QTextCodec directly.
       */
-    Q_SCRIPTABLE bool setCodec(QByteArray codec);
+    Q_SCRIPTABLE bool setCodec(const QByteArray& codec);
 
     /** Returns the codec used to decode incoming characters in this
      * terminal emulation