diff --git a/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/SymbolMetadataProvider.kt b/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/SymbolMetadataProvider.kt
index 8c5a56b577..d76cfb1353 100644
--- a/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/SymbolMetadataProvider.kt
+++ b/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/SymbolMetadataProvider.kt
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ abstract class SymbolMetadataProvider(private val base: RustSymbolProvider) : Wr
             is StringShape -> if (shape.hasTrait<EnumTrait>()) {
                 enumMeta(shape)
             } else null
+
             else -> null
         }
         return baseSymbol.toBuilder().meta(meta).build()
@@ -100,11 +101,13 @@ class BaseSymbolMetadataProvider(
                     )
                 }
             }
+
             container.isUnionShape ||
                 container.isListShape ||
                 container.isSetShape ||
                 container.isMapShape
             -> RustMetadata(visibility = Visibility.PUBLIC)
+
             else -> TODO("Unrecognized container type: $container")
         }
     }
@@ -120,9 +123,10 @@ class BaseSymbolMetadataProvider(
     override fun enumMeta(stringShape: StringShape): RustMetadata {
         return containerDefault.withDerives(
             RuntimeType.std.member("hash::Hash"),
-        ).withDerives( // enums can be eq because they can only contain strings
+        ).withDerives(
+            // enums can be eq because the inner data also implements Eq
             RuntimeType.std.member("cmp::Eq"),
-            // enums can be Ord because they can only contain strings
+            // enums can be Ord because the inner data also implements Ord
             RuntimeType.std.member("cmp::PartialOrd"),
             RuntimeType.std.member("cmp::Ord"),
         )
diff --git a/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGenerator.kt b/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGenerator.kt
index e735ec5e11..4db0b8ca7b 100644
--- a/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGenerator.kt
+++ b/codegen-core/src/main/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGenerator.kt
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@ open class EnumGenerator(
         /** Name of the generated unknown enum member name for enums with named members. */
         const val UnknownVariant = "Unknown"
 
+        /** Name of the opaque struct that is inner data for the generated [UnknownVariant]. */
+        const val UnknownVariantValue = "UnknownVariantValue"
+
         /** Name of the function on the enum impl to get a vec of value names */
         const val Values = "values"
     }
@@ -108,6 +111,10 @@ open class EnumGenerator(
             // pub enum Blah { V1, V2, .. }
             renderEnum()
             writer.insertTrailingNewline()
+            if (target == CodegenTarget.CLIENT) {
+                renderUnknownVariantValue()
+            }
+            writer.insertTrailingNewline()
             // impl From<str> for Blah { ... }
             renderFromForStr()
             // impl FromStr for Blah { ... }
@@ -168,8 +175,8 @@ open class EnumGenerator(
         writer.rustBlock("enum $enumName") {
             sortedMembers.forEach { member -> member.render(writer) }
             if (target == CodegenTarget.CLIENT) {
-                docs("$UnknownVariant contains new variants that have been added since this code was generated.")
-                rust("$UnknownVariant(String)")
+                docs("`$UnknownVariant` contains new variants that have been added since this code was generated.")
+                rust("$UnknownVariant($UnknownVariantValue)")
             }
         }
     }
@@ -183,7 +190,7 @@ open class EnumGenerator(
                         rust("""$enumName::${member.derivedName()} => ${member.value.dq()},""")
                     }
                     if (target == CodegenTarget.CLIENT) {
-                        rust("$enumName::$UnknownVariant(s) => s.as_ref()")
+                        rust("$enumName::$UnknownVariant(value) => value.as_str()")
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -198,6 +205,17 @@ open class EnumGenerator(
         }
     }
 
+    private fun renderUnknownVariantValue() {
+        meta.render(writer)
+        writer.write("struct $UnknownVariantValue(String);")
+        writer.rustBlock("impl $UnknownVariantValue") {
+            // The generated as_str is not pub as we need to prevent users from calling it on this opaque struct.
+            rustBlock("fn as_str(&self) -> &str") {
+                rust("&self.0")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     protected open fun renderFromForStr() {
         writer.rustBlock("impl #T<&str> for $enumName", RuntimeType.From) {
             rustBlock("fn from(s: &str) -> Self") {
@@ -205,7 +223,7 @@ open class EnumGenerator(
                     sortedMembers.forEach { member ->
                         rust("""${member.value.dq()} => $enumName::${member.derivedName()},""")
                     }
-                    rust("other => $enumName::$UnknownVariant(other.to_owned())")
+                    rust("other => $enumName::$UnknownVariant($UnknownVariantValue(other.to_owned()))")
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/codegen-core/src/test/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGeneratorTest.kt b/codegen-core/src/test/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGeneratorTest.kt
index 90679f9773..d5858fcd52 100644
--- a/codegen-core/src/test/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGeneratorTest.kt
+++ b/codegen-core/src/test/kotlin/software/amazon/smithy/rust/codegen/core/smithy/generators/EnumGeneratorTest.kt
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class EnumGeneratorTest {
                 let instance = InstanceType::T2Micro;
                 assert_eq!(instance.as_str(), "t2.micro");
                 assert_eq!(InstanceType::from("t2.nano"), InstanceType::T2Nano);
-                assert_eq!(InstanceType::from("other"), InstanceType::Unknown("other".to_owned()));
+                assert_eq!(InstanceType::from("other"), InstanceType::Unknown(UnknownVariantValue("other".to_owned())));
                 // round trip unknown variants:
                 assert_eq!(InstanceType::from("other").as_str(), "other");
                 """,
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ class EnumGeneratorTest {
                 """
                 assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("Unknown"), SomeEnum::UnknownValue);
                 assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("UnknownValue"), SomeEnum::UnknownValue_);
-                assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("SomethingNew"), SomeEnum::Unknown("SomethingNew".into()));
+                assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("SomethingNew"), SomeEnum::Unknown(UnknownVariantValue("SomethingNew".to_owned())));
                 """,
             )
         }
@@ -271,7 +271,9 @@ class EnumGeneratorTest {
             val shape: StringShape = model.lookup("test#SomeEnum")
             val trait = shape.expectTrait<EnumTrait>()
             val provider = testSymbolProvider(model)
-            val rendered = RustWriter.forModule("model").also { EnumGenerator(model, provider, it, shape, trait).render() }.toString()
+            val rendered =
+                RustWriter.forModule("model").also { EnumGenerator(model, provider, it, shape, trait).render() }
+                    .toString()
 
             rendered shouldContain
                 """
@@ -297,7 +299,9 @@ class EnumGeneratorTest {
             val shape: StringShape = model.lookup("test#SomeEnum")
             val trait = shape.expectTrait<EnumTrait>()
             val provider = testSymbolProvider(model)
-            val rendered = RustWriter.forModule("model").also { EnumGenerator(model, provider, it, shape, trait).render() }.toString()
+            val rendered =
+                RustWriter.forModule("model").also { EnumGenerator(model, provider, it, shape, trait).render() }
+                    .toString()
 
             rendered shouldContain
                 """
@@ -326,7 +330,7 @@ class EnumGeneratorTest {
         writer.compileAndTest(
             """
             assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("other"), SomeEnum::SelfValue);
-            assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("SomethingNew"), SomeEnum::Unknown("SomethingNew".into()));
+            assert_eq!(SomeEnum::from("SomethingNew"), SomeEnum::Unknown(UnknownVariantValue("SomethingNew".to_owned())));
             """,
         )
     }