diff --git a/test/cpp/util/grpc_tool.cc b/test/cpp/util/grpc_tool.cc
index d21e8a30b8c..ccc60cca27a 100644
--- a/test/cpp/util/grpc_tool.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/util/grpc_tool.cc
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ void ReadResponse(CliCall* call, const grpc::string& method_name,
 }
 
 std::shared_ptr<grpc::Channel> CreateCliChannel(
-    grpc::string server_address, const CliCredentials& cred) {
+    const grpc::string& server_address, const CliCredentials& cred) {
   grpc::ChannelArguments args;
   if (!cred.GetSslTargetNameOverride().empty()) {
     args.SetSslTargetNameOverride(cred.GetSslTargetNameOverride());