diff --git a/include/cista/containers/cstring.h b/include/cista/containers/cstring.h
index 7cca3e59..7925d852 100644
--- a/include/cista/containers/cstring.h
+++ b/include/cista/containers/cstring.h
@@ -297,6 +297,9 @@ struct generic_cstring {
   char* data() noexcept { return const_cast<char*>(internal_data()); }
   char const* data() const noexcept { return internal_data(); }
 
+  char* c_str() noexcept { return data(); }
+  char const* c_str() const noexcept { return data(); }
+
   msize_t size() const noexcept { return is_short() ? s_.size() : h_.size(); }
 
   struct heap {