diff --git a/plume-models/src/blogs.rs b/plume-models/src/blogs.rs
index 9c73a7d6..c825f6aa 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/blogs.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/blogs.rs
@@ -143,8 +143,8 @@ impl Blog {
                     name: inst.clone(),
                     local: false,
                     // We don't really care about all the following for remote instances
-                    long_description: SafeString::new(&<String>::new()),
-                    short_description: SafeString::new(&<String>::new()),
+                    long_description: SafeString::new(""),
+                    short_description: SafeString::new(""),
                     default_license: String::new(),
                     open_registrations: true,
                     short_description_html: String::new(),
diff --git a/plume-models/src/users.rs b/plume-models/src/users.rs
index 9c2c8113..d8addb19 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/users.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/users.rs
@@ -205,8 +205,8 @@ impl User {
                     public_domain: inst.clone(),
                     local: false,
                     // We don't really care about all the following for remote instances
-                    long_description: SafeString::new(&<String>::new()),
-                    short_description: SafeString::new(&<String>::new()),
+                    long_description: SafeString::new(""),
+                    short_description: SafeString::new(""),
                     default_license: String::new(),
                     open_registrations: true,
                     short_description_html: String::new(),
diff --git a/src/routes/instance.rs b/src/routes/instance.rs
index 6f2a970a..6905ecbc 100644
--- a/src/routes/instance.rs
+++ b/src/routes/instance.rs
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@ fn update_settings(conn: DbConn, admin: Admin, form: LenientForm<InstanceSetting
             instance.update(&*conn,
                 form.name.clone(),
                 form.open_registrations,
-                form.short_description.clone().to_string(),
-                form.long_description.clone().to_string());
+                form.short_description.clone(),
+                form.long_description.clone());
             Redirect::to(uri!(admin))
         })
         .map_err(|e| Template::render("instance/admin", json!({
diff --git a/src/setup.rs b/src/setup.rs
index 8bc0eca5..83c86c5c 100644
--- a/src/setup.rs
+++ b/src/setup.rs
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ fn quick_setup(conn: DbConn) {
         public_domain: domain,
         name: name,
         local: true,
-        long_description: SafeString::new(&<String>::new()),
-        short_description: SafeString::new(&<String>::new()),
+        long_description: SafeString::new(""),
+        short_description: SafeString::new(""),
         default_license: String::from("CC-0"),
         open_registrations: true,
         short_description_html: String::new(),