diff --git a/rust/cpp_kernel/BUILD b/rust/cpp_kernel/BUILD
index f16566b80c4d0..ad4580701cf5c 100644
--- a/rust/cpp_kernel/BUILD
+++ b/rust/cpp_kernel/BUILD
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ cc_library(
         "@com_google_absl//absl/functional:overload",
         "@com_google_absl//absl/log:absl_check",
         "@com_google_absl//absl/log:absl_log",
+        "@com_google_absl//absl/strings:string_view",
     ],
 )
 
diff --git a/rust/cpp_kernel/map.cc b/rust/cpp_kernel/map.cc
index e776599cf8290..4e4f78ca042c4 100644
--- a/rust/cpp_kernel/map.cc
+++ b/rust/cpp_kernel/map.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #include "google/protobuf/map.h"
 
-#include <algorithm>
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <string>
@@ -8,7 +7,7 @@
 #include <utility>
 
 #include "absl/functional/overload.h"
-#include "absl/log/absl_log.h"
+#include "absl/strings/string_view.h"
 #include "google/protobuf/message.h"
 #include "google/protobuf/message_lite.h"
 #include "rust/cpp_kernel/strings.h"
@@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ template <typename Key>
 bool Insert(internal::UntypedMapBase* m, Key key, MapValue value) {
   internal::NodeBase* node = internal::RustMapHelper::AllocNode(m);
   if constexpr (std::is_same<Key, PtrAndLen>::value) {
-    new (node->GetVoidKey()) std::string(key.ptr, key.len);
+    key.PlacementNewString(node->GetVoidKey());
   } else {
     *static_cast<Key*>(node->GetVoidKey()) = key;
   }
diff --git a/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.cc b/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.cc
index af29ddeaf4300..d1af5656b02c5 100644
--- a/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.cc
+++ b/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.cc
@@ -3,12 +3,25 @@
 #include <cstring>
 #include <string>
 
+#include "absl/strings/string_view.h"
 #include "rust/cpp_kernel/rust_alloc_for_cpp_api.h"
 
 namespace google {
 namespace protobuf {
 namespace rust {
 
+std::string PtrAndLen::CopyToString() const {
+  return len == 0 ? "" : std::string(ptr, len);
+}
+
+absl::string_view PtrAndLen::AsStringView() const {
+  return absl::string_view(len == 0 ? nullptr : ptr, len);
+}
+
+void PtrAndLen::PlacementNewString(void* location) {
+  new (location) std::string(len == 0 ? nullptr : ptr, len);
+}
+
 RustStringRawParts::RustStringRawParts(std::string src) {
   if (src.empty()) {
     data = nullptr;
@@ -27,7 +40,7 @@ RustStringRawParts::RustStringRawParts(std::string src) {
 
 extern "C" {
 std::string* proto2_rust_cpp_new_string(google::protobuf::rust::PtrAndLen src) {
-  return new std::string(src.ptr, src.len);
+  return new std::string(src.CopyToString());
 }
 
 void proto2_rust_cpp_delete_string(std::string* str) { delete str; }
diff --git a/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.h b/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.h
index b3302a191972f..124b6395dd8b1 100644
--- a/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.h
+++ b/rust/cpp_kernel/strings.h
@@ -12,16 +12,32 @@
 #include <cstring>
 #include <string>
 
+#include "absl/strings/string_view.h"
+
 namespace google {
 namespace protobuf {
 namespace rust {
 
 // Represents an ABI-stable version of &[u8]/string_view (borrowed slice of
 // bytes) for FFI use only.
+//
+// Note that the intent is for either Rust or C++ to construct one of these with
+// the pointer that they would have from a Rust slice or C++ string_view.
+// Notably this means that if len==0, ptr may be any value, including nullptr or
+// an invalid pointer, which may be a value incompatible for use with either a
+// Rust slice or C++ string_view.
+//
+// It may be constructed trivially, but use the provided conversion methods
+// when converting from this type into any other type to avoid obscure undefined
+// behavior.
 struct PtrAndLen {
   /// Borrows the memory.
   const char* ptr;
   size_t len;
+
+  std::string CopyToString() const;
+  absl::string_view AsStringView() const;
+  void PlacementNewString(void* location);
 };
 
 // Represents an owned string for FFI purposes.