diff --git a/libqpdf/MD5.cc b/libqpdf/MD5.cc
index 694289e..d46df63 100644
--- a/libqpdf/MD5.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/MD5.cc
@@ -46,12 +46,6 @@ MD5::appendString(char const* input_string)
 }
 
 void
-MD5::encodeDataIncrementally(char const* data, size_t len)
-{
-    crypto->MD5_update(QUtil::unsigned_char_pointer(data), len);
-}
-
-void
 MD5::encodeFile(char const* filename, qpdf_offset_t up_to_offset)
 {
     char buffer[1024];
diff --git a/libqpdf/qpdf/MD5.hh b/libqpdf/qpdf/MD5.hh
index be97edb..12867b5 100644
--- a/libqpdf/qpdf/MD5.hh
+++ b/libqpdf/qpdf/MD5.hh
@@ -24,7 +24,20 @@ class MD5
     void appendString(char const* input_string);
 
     // appends arbitrary data to current md5 object
-    void encodeDataIncrementally(char const* input_data, size_t len);
+    void
+    encodeDataIncrementally(char const* input_data, size_t len)
+    {
+        crypto->MD5_update(reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(const_cast<char*>(input_data)), len);
+    }
+
+    // appends arbitrary data to current md5 object
+    void
+    encodeDataIncrementally(std::string_view input_data)
+    {
+        crypto->MD5_update(
+            reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(const_cast<char*>(input_data.data())),
+            input_data.size());
+    }
 
     // computes a raw digest
     void digest(Digest);