diff --git a/src/tools/uic/uic.cpp b/src/tools/uic/uic.cpp
index be4df64696f..4c92d2ba18b 100644
--- a/src/tools/uic/uic.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/uic/uic.cpp
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ static double versionFromUiAttribute(QXmlStreamReader &reader)
     const QString versionAttribute = QLatin1String("version");
     if (!attributes.hasAttribute(versionAttribute))
         return 4.0;
-    const QString version = attributes.value(versionAttribute).toString();
+    const QStringRef version = attributes.value(versionAttribute);
     return version.toDouble();
 }