diff --git a/crates/uv-git-types/src/reference.rs b/crates/uv-git-types/src/reference.rs
index 247f618ddc93d..ac1bd297c1d55 100644
--- a/crates/uv-git-types/src/reference.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-git-types/src/reference.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::fmt::Display;
 use std::str;
 
@@ -69,13 +70,13 @@ impl GitReference {
     }
 
     /// Converts the [`GitReference`] to a percent-encoded revision string for use in a URL.
-    pub fn as_url_rev(&self) -> Option<String> {
+    pub fn as_url_rev(&self) -> Option<Cow<'_, str>> {
         self.as_str().map(Self::encode_rev)
     }
 
     /// Percent-encode a revision string for use in a URL.
-    pub(crate) fn encode_rev(rev: &str) -> String {
-        utf8_percent_encode(rev, GIT_REFERENCE_ENCODE_SET).to_string()
+    pub(crate) fn encode_rev(rev: &str) -> Cow<'_, str> {
+        utf8_percent_encode(rev, GIT_REFERENCE_ENCODE_SET).into()
     }
 
     /// Returns the kind of this reference.