diff --git a/linkerd/app/inbound/src/metrics/authz.rs b/linkerd/app/inbound/src/metrics/authz.rs
index c7d17a3352..5f53c1e097 100644
--- a/linkerd/app/inbound/src/metrics/authz.rs
+++ b/linkerd/app/inbound/src/metrics/authz.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ struct TcpInner {
 pub struct HTTPLocalRateLimitLabels {
     pub server: ServerLabel,
     pub rate_limit: Option<Arc<Meta>>,
-    pub scope: String,
+    pub scope: &'static str,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Hash, PartialEq, Eq)]
diff --git a/linkerd/app/inbound/src/policy.rs b/linkerd/app/inbound/src/policy.rs
index c55ee9d5fc..3acfaa8fec 100644
--- a/linkerd/app/inbound/src/policy.rs
+++ b/linkerd/app/inbound/src/policy.rs
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ impl AllowPolicy {
         use RateLimitError::*;
 
         let scope = match error {
-            Total(_) => "total".to_string(),
-            PerIdentity(_) | Override(_) => "identity".to_string(),
+            Total(_) => "total",
+            PerIdentity(_) | Override(_) => "identity",
         };
         HTTPLocalRateLimitLabels {
             server: self.server_label(),