diff --git a/src/set.rs b/src/set.rs
index adf0ad3..9302e47 100644
--- a/src/set.rs
+++ b/src/set.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,11 @@ use kakplugin::{
 use linked_hash_map::LinkedHashMap;
 use linked_hash_set::LinkedHashSet;
 use regex::Regex;
-use std::{io::Write, str::FromStr};
+use std::{
+    borrow::{Borrow, Cow},
+    io::Write,
+    str::FromStr,
+};
 
 #[derive(clap::StructOpt, Debug)]
 pub struct Options {
@@ -71,46 +75,54 @@ pub fn set(options: &Options) -> Result<String, KakError> {
 
     // Get the selections for the left register and the right register, depending on the arguments
     // Underscore is a special case. We will treat it as the current selection
-    let (left_selections, right_selections) = match (&left_register, &right_register) {
-        (Register::Underscore, r) => {
-            let l_selections = get_selections(None)?;
-            let r_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{r}z")))?;
+    let (left_selections, right_selections): (Vec<Cow<str>>, Vec<Cow<str>>) = {
+        let (l, r): (Vec<Selection>, Vec<Selection>) = match (&left_register, &right_register) {
+            (Register::Underscore, r) => {
+                let l_selections = get_selections(None)?;
+                let r_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{r}z")))?;
 
-            (l_selections, r_selections)
-        }
-        (l, Register::Underscore) => {
-            let r_selections = get_selections(None)?;
-            let l_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{l}z")))?;
+                (l_selections, r_selections)
+            }
+            (l, Register::Underscore) => {
+                let r_selections = get_selections(None)?;
+                let l_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{l}z")))?;
 
-            (l_selections, r_selections)
-        }
-        (l, r) => {
-            let l_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{l}z")))?;
-            let r_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{r}z")))?;
+                (l_selections, r_selections)
+            }
+            (l, r) => {
+                let l_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{l}z")))?;
+                let r_selections = get_selections(Some(&format!("\"{r}z")))?;
 
-            (l_selections, r_selections)
-        }
+                (l_selections, r_selections)
+            }
+        };
+        (
+            l.into_iter().map(|s| Cow::Owned(s)).collect(),
+            r.into_iter().map(|s| Cow::Owned(s)).collect(),
+        )
     };
 
     // Get the frequency of each selection. The count does not matter as much as presence
     // Count is used only for compare
     let (left_ordered_counts, right_ordered_counts) = (
-        to_ordered_counts(options, left_selections),
-        to_ordered_counts(options, right_selections),
+        to_ordered_counts(options, &left_selections[..]),
+        to_ordered_counts(options, &right_selections[..]),
     );
 
     // Get an ordered set of every key for each register
     let (left_keys, right_keys) = (
         left_ordered_counts
             .keys()
-            .collect::<LinkedHashSet<&Selection>>(),
+            .map(|c| Cow::Borrowed(c.borrow()))
+            .collect(),
         right_ordered_counts
             .keys()
-            .collect::<LinkedHashSet<&Selection>>(),
+            .map(|c| Cow::Borrowed(c.borrow()))
+            .collect(),
     );
 
     // Run the actual set operation
-    let result = key_set_operation(&operation, &left_keys, &right_keys);
+    let result = key_set_operation(&operation, left_keys, right_keys);
 
     match &operation {
         Operation::Compare => compare(
@@ -149,9 +161,9 @@ pub fn set(options: &Options) -> Result<String, KakError> {
 }
 
 /// Reduces selections to those that are in the `key_set_operation_result`
-fn reduce_selections(
+fn reduce_selections<'sel>(
     options: &Options,
-    key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<&Selection>,
+    key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<Cow<'sel, str>>,
 ) -> Result<(), KakError> {
     // The registers should have been read in a draft context
     // So the current selection will be unmodified
@@ -162,7 +174,7 @@ fn reduce_selections(
         // Since key_set_operation_result contains elements that should be in the resulting set,
         // we can just use contains here
         let key = crate::utils::get_key(
-            &swd.content,
+            Cow::Owned(swd.content),
             options.skip_whitespace,
             options.regex.as_ref(),
             options.ignore_case,
@@ -178,7 +190,7 @@ fn reduce_selections(
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn print_result(key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<&Selection>) -> Result<(), KakError> {
+fn print_result(key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<Cow<str>>) -> Result<(), KakError> {
     // Manually set selections so we don't have to allocate a string
     let mut f = kakplugin::open_command_fifo()?;
 
@@ -207,12 +219,12 @@ fn print_result(key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<&Selection>) -> Result<
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn compare(
+fn compare<'sel>(
     left_register: Register,
     right_register: Register,
-    key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<&Selection>,
-    left_ordered_counts: &LinkedHashMap<Selection, usize>,
-    right_ordered_counts: &LinkedHashMap<Selection, usize>,
+    key_set_operation_result: &LinkedHashSet<Cow<'sel, str>>,
+    left_ordered_counts: &LinkedHashMap<Cow<'sel, str>, usize>,
+    right_ordered_counts: &LinkedHashMap<Cow<'sel, str>, usize>,
 ) -> Result<(), KakError> {
     // Manually set selections so we don't have to allocate a string
     let mut f = kakplugin::open_command_fifo()?;
@@ -232,8 +244,8 @@ fn compare(
     )?;
 
     for k in key_set_operation_result {
-        let left_count = left_ordered_counts.get(k as &str).unwrap_or(&0);
-        let right_count = right_ordered_counts.get(k as &str).unwrap_or(&0);
+        let left_count = left_ordered_counts.get(k).unwrap_or(&0);
+        let right_count = right_ordered_counts.get(k).unwrap_or(&0);
 
         write!(
             f,
@@ -263,12 +275,15 @@ fn compare(
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn to_ordered_counts(options: &Options, sels: Vec<Selection>) -> LinkedHashMap<Selection, usize> {
+fn to_ordered_counts<'sel>(
+    options: &Options,
+    sels: &'sel [Cow<'sel, str>],
+) -> LinkedHashMap<Cow<'sel, str>, usize> {
     let mut ret = LinkedHashMap::new();
 
     for i in sels {
         let key = crate::utils::get_key(
-            &i,
+            Cow::Borrowed(&*i),
             options.skip_whitespace,
             options.regex.as_ref(),
             options.ignore_case,
@@ -285,29 +300,28 @@ fn to_ordered_counts(options: &Options, sels: Vec<Selection>) -> LinkedHashMap<S
     ret
 }
 
-/// Performs an `Operation` on some set of keys
+/// Performs an `Operation` on some set of keys. This returns a a hashset of the operations
 /// * `operation` - The operation to perform
 /// * `left_keys` - The set on the left side of the operator
 /// * `right_keys` - The set on the right side of the operator
-fn key_set_operation<'a>(
-    operation: &Operation,
-    left_keys: &LinkedHashSet<&'a Selection>,
-    right_keys: &LinkedHashSet<&'a Selection>,
-) -> LinkedHashSet<&'a Selection> {
+fn key_set_operation<'a, 'sel>(
+    operation: &'a Operation,
+    left_keys: LinkedHashSet<Cow<'sel, str>>,
+    right_keys: LinkedHashSet<Cow<'sel, str>>,
+) -> LinkedHashSet<Cow<'sel, str>> {
     match operation {
         Operation::Intersect => left_keys
-            .intersection(right_keys)
-            // .into_iter()
-            .copied()
+            .intersection(&right_keys)
+            .map(|s| Cow::Borrowed(s.borrow()))
             .collect(),
         Operation::Subtract => left_keys
-            .difference(right_keys)
-            .into_iter()
-            .copied()
+            .difference(&right_keys)
+            .map(|s| Cow::Borrowed(s.borrow()))
             .collect(),
-        Operation::Compare | Operation::Union => {
-            left_keys.union(right_keys).into_iter().copied().collect()
-        } // TODO: Symmetric difference?
+        Operation::Compare | Operation::Union => left_keys
+            .union(&right_keys)
+            .map(|s| Cow::Borrowed(s.borrow()))
+            .collect(), // TODO: Symmetric difference?
     }
 }