diff --git a/include/qpdf/QPDFJob.hh b/include/qpdf/QPDFJob.hh
index 0b85bd6..0cf2d71 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QPDFJob.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QPDFJob.hh
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ class QPDFJob
         bool warnings{false};
         unsigned long encryption_status{0};
         bool verbose{false};
-        std::shared_ptr<char> password;
+        std::string password;
         bool linearize{false};
         bool decrypt{false};
         bool remove_restrictions{false};
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ class QPDFJob
         bool warnings_exit_zero{false};
         bool copy_encryption{false};
         std::string encryption_file;
-        std::shared_ptr<char> encryption_file_password;
+        std::string encryption_file_password;
         bool encrypt{false};
         bool password_is_hex_key{false};
         bool suppress_password_recovery{false};
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFJob.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFJob.cc
index 0bd4090..6205f3c 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFJob.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFJob.cc
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ QPDFJob::createQPDF()
     checkConfiguration();
     std::unique_ptr<QPDF> pdf_sp;
     try {
-        processFile(pdf_sp, m->infilename.data(), m->password.get(), true, true);
+        processFile(pdf_sp, m->infilename.data(), m->password.data(), true, true);
     } catch (QPDFExc& e) {
         if (e.getErrorCode() == qpdf_e_password) {
             // Allow certain operations to work when an incorrect password is supplied.
@@ -2471,10 +2471,10 @@ QPDFJob::handlePageSpecs(QPDF& pdf, std::vector<std::unique_ptr<QPDF>>& page_hea
             // different QPDF objects to the same underlying file with the same path to achieve the
             // same effect.
             char const* password = page_spec.password.get();
-            if ((!m->encryption_file.empty()) && (password == nullptr) &&
-                (page_spec.filename == m->encryption_file)) {
+            if (!m->encryption_file.empty() && password == nullptr &&
+                page_spec.filename == m->encryption_file) {
                 QTC::TC("qpdf", "QPDFJob pages encryption password");
-                password = m->encryption_file_password.get();
+                password = m->encryption_file_password.data();
             }
             doIfVerbose([&](Pipeline& v, std::string const& prefix) {
                 v << prefix << ": processing " << page_spec.filename << "\n";
@@ -2962,8 +2962,8 @@ QPDFJob::setWriterOptions(QPDFWriter& w)
         std::unique_ptr<QPDF> encryption_pdf;
         processFile(
             encryption_pdf,
-            m->encryption_file.c_str(),
-            m->encryption_file_password.get(),
+            m->encryption_file.data(),
+            m->encryption_file_password.data(),
             false,
             false);
         w.copyEncryptionParameters(*encryption_pdf);
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc
index cfa878a..70c9f48 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFJob_config.cc
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ QPDFJob::Config::deterministicId()
 QPDFJob::Config*
 QPDFJob::Config::encryptionFilePassword(std::string const& parameter)
 {
-    o.m->encryption_file_password = QUtil::make_shared_cstr(parameter);
+    o.m->encryption_file_password = parameter;
     return this;
 }
 
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ QPDFJob::Config::optimizeImages()
 QPDFJob::Config*
 QPDFJob::Config::password(std::string const& parameter)
 {
-    o.m->password = QUtil::make_shared_cstr(parameter);
+    o.m->password = parameter;
     return this;
 }
 
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ QPDFJob::Config::passwordFile(std::string const& parameter)
         lines = QUtil::read_lines_from_file(parameter.c_str());
     }
     if (!lines.empty()) {
-        o.m->password = QUtil::make_shared_cstr(lines.front());
+        o.m->password = lines.front();
 
         if (lines.size() > 1) {
             *QPDFLogger::defaultLogger()->getError()