diff --git a/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.cpp b/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.cpp
index 8e8f880e9f..0004c7e7f1 100644
--- a/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.cpp
+++ b/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.cpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #include <QFontMetrics>
 #include <QString>
 
-QString fileItemListToString(KFileItemList items, int maximumTextWidth, QFontMetrics fontMetrics, ItemsState itemsState)
+QString fileItemListToString(KFileItemList items, int maximumTextWidth, const QFontMetrics &fontMetrics, ItemsState itemsState)
 {
     QString text;
     switch (items.count()) {
diff --git a/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.h b/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.h
index 7eee0aec99..ad8c82b218 100644
--- a/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.h
+++ b/src/kitemviews/kfileitemlisttostring.h
@@ -51,6 +51,6 @@ enum ItemsState {
  *          Otherwise returns something like "5 Files", "8 Selected Folders" or "60 Items"
  *          while being as specific as possible.
  */
-QString fileItemListToString(KFileItemList items, int maximumTextWidth, QFontMetrics fontMetrics, ItemsState itemsState = ItemsState::None);
+QString fileItemListToString(KFileItemList items, int maximumTextWidth, const QFontMetrics &fontMetrics, ItemsState itemsState = ItemsState::None);
 
 #endif // KFILEITEMLISTTOSTRING_H