diff --git a/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exodus/Ioex_Utils.C b/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exodus/Ioex_Utils.C
index fb5379b8b3..972e5b4c19 100644
--- a/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exodus/Ioex_Utils.C
+++ b/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exodus/Ioex_Utils.C
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@
 #include <tokenize.h>
 
 namespace {
-  size_t match(const char *name1, const char *name2)
+  size_t match(const std::string &name1, const std::string &name2)
   {
-    size_t l1  = std::strlen(name1);
-    size_t l2  = std::strlen(name2);
-    size_t len = l1 < l2 ? l1 : l2;
+    size_t l1  = name1.size();
+    size_t l2  = name2.size();
+    size_t len = std::min(l1, l2);
     for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i++) {
       if (name1[i] != name2[i]) {
         while (i > 0 && (isdigit(name1[i - 1]) != 0) && (isdigit(name2[i - 1]) != 0)) {
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ namespace {
     return len;
   }
 
-  size_t match(const std::string &name1, const std::string &name2)
-  {
-    return match(name1.c_str(), name2.c_str());
-  }
-
   template <typename INT>
   void internal_write_coordinate_frames(int exoid, const Ioss::CoordinateFrameContainer &frames,
                                         INT /*dummy*/)
diff --git a/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exonull/Ioexnl_Utils.C b/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exonull/Ioexnl_Utils.C
index 871b913cdf..0c7af15061 100644
--- a/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exonull/Ioexnl_Utils.C
+++ b/packages/seacas/libraries/ioss/src/exonull/Ioexnl_Utils.C
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@
 #include <tokenize.h>
 
 namespace {
-  size_t match(const char *name1, const char *name2)
+  size_t match(const std::string &name1, const std::string &name2)
   {
-    size_t l1  = std::strlen(name1);
-    size_t l2  = std::strlen(name2);
-    size_t len = l1 < l2 ? l1 : l2;
+    size_t l1  = name1.size();
+    size_t l2  = name2.size();
+    size_t len = std::min(l1, l2);
     for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i++) {
       if (name1[i] != name2[i]) {
         while (i > 0 && (isdigit(name1[i - 1]) != 0) && (isdigit(name2[i - 1]) != 0)) {
@@ -384,14 +384,14 @@ namespace Ioexnl {
     // VECTOR_3D).  If found, it returns the name.
     //
 
-    static const std::string &displace = "displacement";
+    static const std::string displace = "displacement";
 
     size_t max_span = 0;
     for (const auto &name : fields) {
       std::string lc_name(name);
 
       Ioss::Utils::fixup_name(lc_name);
-      size_t span = match(lc_name.c_str(), displace.c_str());
+      size_t span = match(lc_name, displace);
       if (span > max_span) {
         const Ioss::VariableType *var_type   = block->get_field(name).transformed_storage();
         int                       comp_count = var_type->component_count();