diff --git a/fish-rust/Cargo.lock b/fish-rust/Cargo.lock
index 3f67137c4..33e1d1a25 100644
--- a/fish-rust/Cargo.lock
+++ b/fish-rust/Cargo.lock
@@ -379,6 +379,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
  "lru",
  "miette",
+ "moveit",
  "nix",
  "num-traits",
  "once_cell",
diff --git a/fish-rust/Cargo.toml b/fish-rust/Cargo.toml
index e130eafbd..1f9c0df2a 100644
--- a/fish-rust/Cargo.toml
+++ b/fish-rust/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ errno = "0.2.8"
 inventory = { version = "0.3.3", optional = true}
 libc = "0.2.137"
 lru = "0.10.0"
+moveit = "0.5.1"
 nix = { version = "0.25.0", default-features = false, features = [] }
 num-traits = "0.2.15"
 once_cell = "1.17.0"
diff --git a/fish-rust/src/builtins/shared.rs b/fish-rust/src/builtins/shared.rs
index de4f26b9b..2a33cf131 100644
--- a/fish-rust/src/builtins/shared.rs
+++ b/fish-rust/src/builtins/shared.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use crate::builtins::{printf, wait};
-use crate::ffi::{self, parser_t, wcharz_t, Repin, RustBuiltin};
-use crate::wchar::{self, wstr, L};
-use crate::wchar_ffi::{c_str, empty_wstring};
+use crate::ffi::{self, parser_t, wcstring_list_ffi_t, Repin, RustBuiltin};
+use crate::wchar::{wstr, WString, L};
+use crate::wchar_ffi::{c_str, empty_wstring, WCharFromFFI};
 use crate::wgetopt::{wgetopter_t, wopt, woption, woption_argument_t};
 use libc::c_int;
 use std::pin::Pin;
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ mod builtins_ffi {
         include!("builtin.h");
 
         type wcharz_t = crate::ffi::wcharz_t;
+        type wcstring_list_ffi_t = crate::ffi::wcstring_list_ffi_t;
         type parser_t = crate::ffi::parser_t;
         type io_streams_t = crate::ffi::io_streams_t;
         type RustBuiltin = crate::ffi::RustBuiltin;
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ mod builtins_ffi {
         fn rust_run_builtin(
             parser: Pin<&mut parser_t>,
             streams: Pin<&mut io_streams_t>,
-            cpp_args: &Vec<wcharz_t>,
+            cpp_args: &wcstring_list_ffi_t,
             builtin: RustBuiltin,
             status_code: &mut i32,
         ) -> bool;
@@ -112,18 +113,12 @@ pub fn ffi_ref(&self) -> &builtins_ffi::io_streams_t {
 fn rust_run_builtin(
     parser: Pin<&mut parser_t>,
     streams: Pin<&mut builtins_ffi::io_streams_t>,
-    cpp_args: &Vec<wcharz_t>,
+    cpp_args: &wcstring_list_ffi_t,
     builtin: RustBuiltin,
     status_code: &mut i32,
 ) -> bool {
-    let mut storage = Vec::<wchar::WString>::new();
-    for arg in cpp_args {
-        storage.push(arg.into());
-    }
-    let mut args = Vec::new();
-    for arg in &storage {
-        args.push(arg.as_utfstr());
-    }
+    let storage: Vec<WString> = cpp_args.from_ffi();
+    let mut args: Vec<&wstr> = storage.iter().map(|s| s.as_utfstr()).collect();
     let streams = &mut io_streams_t::new(streams);
 
     match run_builtin(parser.unpin(), streams, args.as_mut_slice(), builtin) {
diff --git a/fish-rust/src/ffi.rs b/fish-rust/src/ffi.rs
index e166296ff..380e8d682 100644
--- a/fish-rust/src/ffi.rs
+++ b/fish-rust/src/ffi.rs
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     safety!(unsafe_ffi)
 
     generate_pod!("wcharz_t")
+    generate!("wcstring_list_ffi_t")
     generate!("make_fd_nonblocking")
     generate!("wperror")
 
diff --git a/fish-rust/src/wchar_ffi.rs b/fish-rust/src/wchar_ffi.rs
index 92c7f7137..1a1e17215 100644
--- a/fish-rust/src/wchar_ffi.rs
+++ b/fish-rust/src/wchar_ffi.rs
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
 //!   - wcharz_t: a "newtyped" pointer to a nul-terminated string, implemented in C++.
 //!               This is useful for FFI boundaries, to work around autocxx limitations on pointers.
 
-pub use crate::ffi::{wchar_t, wcharz_t};
+pub use crate::ffi::{wchar_t, wcharz_t, wcstring_list_ffi_t};
 use crate::wchar::{wstr, WString};
+use autocxx::WithinUniquePtr;
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
 pub use widestring::u32cstr;
 pub use widestring::U32CString as W0String;
@@ -93,11 +94,13 @@ fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
 /// Convert self to a CxxWString, in preparation for using over FFI.
 /// We can't use "From" as WString is implemented in an external crate.
 pub trait WCharToFFI {
-    fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString>;
+    type Target;
+    fn to_ffi(&self) -> Self::Target;
 }
 
 /// WString may be converted to CxxWString.
 impl WCharToFFI for WString {
+    type Target = cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString>;
     fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
         cxx::CxxWString::create(self.as_char_slice())
     }
@@ -105,6 +108,7 @@ fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
 
 /// wstr (wide string slices) may be converted to CxxWString.
 impl WCharToFFI for wstr {
+    type Target = cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString>;
     fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
         cxx::CxxWString::create(self.as_char_slice())
     }
@@ -112,6 +116,7 @@ fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
 
 /// wcharz_t (wide char) may be converted to CxxWString.
 impl WCharToFFI for wcharz_t {
+    type Target = cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString>;
     fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
         cxx::CxxWString::create(self.chars())
     }
@@ -121,39 +126,57 @@ fn to_ffi(&self) -> cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
 pub trait WCharFromFFI<Target> {
     /// Convert from a CxxWString for FFI purposes.
     #[allow(clippy::wrong_self_convention)]
-    fn from_ffi(&self) -> Target;
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> Target;
 }
 
-impl WCharFromFFI<WString> for cxx::CxxWString {
-    fn from_ffi(&self) -> WString {
+impl WCharFromFFI<WString> for &cxx::CxxWString {
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> WString {
         WString::from_chars(self.as_chars())
     }
 }
 
-impl WCharFromFFI<WString> for cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
-    fn from_ffi(&self) -> WString {
+impl WCharFromFFI<WString> for &cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> WString {
         WString::from_chars(self.as_chars())
     }
 }
 
-impl WCharFromFFI<WString> for cxx::SharedPtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
-    fn from_ffi(&self) -> WString {
+impl WCharFromFFI<WString> for &cxx::SharedPtr<cxx::CxxWString> {
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> WString {
         WString::from_chars(self.as_chars())
     }
 }
 
-impl WCharFromFFI<Vec<u8>> for cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxString> {
-    fn from_ffi(&self) -> Vec<u8> {
+impl WCharFromFFI<Vec<u8>> for &cxx::UniquePtr<cxx::CxxString> {
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> Vec<u8> {
         self.as_bytes().to_vec()
     }
 }
 
-impl WCharFromFFI<Vec<u8>> for cxx::SharedPtr<cxx::CxxString> {
-    fn from_ffi(&self) -> Vec<u8> {
+impl WCharFromFFI<Vec<u8>> for &cxx::SharedPtr<cxx::CxxString> {
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> Vec<u8> {
         self.as_bytes().to_vec()
     }
 }
 
+/// Convert wcstring_list_ffi_t to Vec<WString>.
+impl WCharFromFFI<Vec<WString>> for &wcstring_list_ffi_t {
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> Vec<WString> {
+        let count: usize = self.size();
+        (0..count).map(|i| self.at(i).from_ffi()).collect()
+    }
+}
+
+/// Convert from the type we get back for C++ functions which return wcstring_list_ffi_t.
+impl<T> WCharFromFFI<Vec<WString>> for T
+where
+    T: autocxx::moveit::new::New<Output = wcstring_list_ffi_t>,
+{
+    fn from_ffi(self) -> Vec<WString> {
+        self.within_unique_ptr().as_ref().unwrap().from_ffi()
+    }
+}
+
 /// Convert from FFI types to a reference to a wide string (i.e. a [`wstr`]) without allocating.
 pub trait AsWstr<'a> {
     fn as_wstr(&'a self) -> &'a wstr;
@@ -170,3 +193,10 @@ fn as_wstr(&'a self) -> &'a wstr {
         wstr::from_char_slice(self.as_chars())
     }
 }
+
+use crate::ffi_tests::add_test;
+add_test!("test_wcstring_list_ffi_t", || {
+    use crate::ffi::wcstring_list_ffi_t;
+    let data: Vec<WString> = wcstring_list_ffi_t::get_test_data().from_ffi();
+    assert_eq!(data, vec!["foo", "bar", "baz"]);
+});
diff --git a/src/builtin.cpp b/src/builtin.cpp
index 9c2c0070e..4a1a3a912 100644
--- a/src/builtin.cpp
+++ b/src/builtin.cpp
@@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ static maybe_t<RustBuiltin> try_get_rust_builtin(const wcstring &cmd) {
 static maybe_t<int> builtin_run_rust(parser_t &parser, io_streams_t &streams,
                                      const wcstring_list_t &argv, RustBuiltin builtin) {
     int status_code;
-    bool update_status = rust_run_builtin(parser, streams, to_rust_string_vec(argv), builtin, status_code);
+    bool update_status = rust_run_builtin(parser, streams, argv, builtin, status_code);
     if (update_status) {
         return status_code;
     } else {
diff --git a/src/wutil.cpp b/src/wutil.cpp
index e7c5d4c31..cd20e3187 100644
--- a/src/wutil.cpp
+++ b/src/wutil.cpp
@@ -986,3 +986,8 @@ int file_id_t::compare_file_id(const file_id_t &rhs) const {
 }
 
 bool file_id_t::operator<(const file_id_t &rhs) const { return this->compare_file_id(rhs) < 0; }
+
+// static
+wcstring_list_ffi_t wcstring_list_ffi_t::get_test_data() {
+    return wcstring_list_t{L"foo", L"bar", L"baz"};
+}
diff --git a/src/wutil.h b/src/wutil.h
index 1b94250b9..a615d71f3 100644
--- a/src/wutil.h
+++ b/src/wutil.h
@@ -37,6 +37,20 @@ struct wcharz_t {
     inline size_t length() const { return size(); }
 };
 
+// A helper type for passing vectors of strings back to Rust.
+// This hides the vector so that autocxx doesn't complain about templates.
+struct wcstring_list_ffi_t {
+    wcstring_list_t vals;
+
+    /* implicit */ wcstring_list_ffi_t(wcstring_list_t vals) : vals(std::move(vals)) {}
+
+    size_t size() const { return vals.size(); }
+    const wcstring &at(size_t idx) const { return vals.at(idx); }
+
+    /// Helper function used in tests only.
+    static wcstring_list_ffi_t get_test_data();
+};
+
 class autoclose_fd_t;
 
 /// Wide character version of opendir(). Note that opendir() is guaranteed to set close-on-exec by