diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 33d0a1a0..176871aa 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "home",
  "itertools",
  "jobslot",
+ "maybe-owned",
  "miette",
  "normalize-path",
  "once_cell",
diff --git a/crates/binstalk/Cargo.toml b/crates/binstalk/Cargo.toml
index 218eab48..01bfa0cd 100644
--- a/crates/binstalk/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/binstalk/Cargo.toml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ futures-util = { version = "0.3.25", default-features = false, features = ["std"
 home = "0.5.4"
 itertools = "0.10.5"
 jobslot = { version = "0.2.8", features = ["tokio"] }
+maybe-owned = "0.3.4"
 miette = "5.5.0"
 normalize-path = { version = "0.2.0", path = "../normalize-path" }
 once_cell = "1.17.0"
diff --git a/crates/binstalk/src/ops/resolve.rs b/crates/binstalk/src/ops/resolve.rs
index 7fa725ac..1e5c5f03 100644
--- a/crates/binstalk/src/ops/resolve.rs
+++ b/crates/binstalk/src/ops/resolve.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use cargo_toml::Manifest;
 use compact_str::{CompactString, ToCompactString};
 use crates_io_api::AsyncClient as CratesIoApiClient;
 use itertools::Itertools;
+use maybe_owned::MaybeOwned;
 use semver::{Version, VersionReq};
 use tokio::task::block_in_place;
 use tracing::{debug, info, instrument, warn};
@@ -57,11 +58,11 @@ async fn resolve_inner(
 ) -> Result<Resolution, BinstallError> {
     info!("Resolving package: '{}'", crate_name);
 
-    let version_req: VersionReq = match (crate_name.version_req, &opts.version_req) {
-        (Some(version), None) => version,
-        (None, Some(version)) => version.clone(),
+    let version_req = match (&crate_name.version_req, &opts.version_req) {
+        (Some(version), None) => MaybeOwned::Borrowed(version),
+        (None, Some(version)) => MaybeOwned::Borrowed(version),
         (Some(_), Some(_)) => Err(BinstallError::SuperfluousVersionOption)?,
-        (None, None) => VersionReq::STAR,
+        (None, None) => MaybeOwned::Owned(VersionReq::STAR),
     };
 
     let version_req_str = version_req.to_compact_string();
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ async fn resolve_inner(
     let Some(package_info) = PackageInfo::resolve(&opts,
         crate_name.name,
         curr_version,
-        version_req,
+        &version_req,
         opts.client.clone(),
         &opts.crates_io_api_client).await?
     else {
@@ -337,7 +338,7 @@ impl PackageInfo {
         opts: &Options,
         name: CompactString,
         curr_version: Option<Version>,
-        version_req: VersionReq,
+        version_req: &VersionReq,
         client: Client,
         crates_io_api_client: &CratesIoApiClient,
     ) -> Result<Option<Self>, BinstallError> {
@@ -349,7 +350,7 @@ impl PackageInfo {
                     client,
                     crates_io_api_client,
                     &name,
-                    &version_req,
+                    version_req,
                 ))
                 .await?
             }