diff --git a/lib/std/net.zig b/lib/std/net.zig
index 10e5b371f8162eec8cd89bf5a53936ac1bd34ea0..5a1407c35fd9ce060b2729c35d8826e42dfbb1ff 100644
--- a/lib/std/net.zig
+++ b/lib/std/net.zig
@@ -1164,7 +1164,7 @@ fn linuxLookupNameFromDnsSearch(
     }
 
     const search = if (rc.search.isNull() or dots >= rc.ndots or mem.endsWith(u8, name, "."))
-        &[_]u8{}
+        ""
     else
         rc.search.span();