diff --git a/src/core/gdr.cc b/src/core/gdr.cc
index 22ac15c9..f361a3aa 100644
--- a/src/core/gdr.cc
+++ b/src/core/gdr.cc
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ GdrStatus gdrStatus() { return gdrContext()->status(); }
 
 bool gdrEnabled() { return gdrStatus() == GdrStatus::Ok; }
 
-const char* gdrStatusMessage() {
+std::string gdrStatusMessage() {
   switch (gdrStatus()) {
     case GdrStatus::Ok:
       return "GDRCopy initialized successfully";
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ GdrStatus gdrStatus() { return GdrStatus::NotBuilt; }
 
 bool gdrEnabled() { return false; }
 
-const char* gdrStatusMessage() { return "mscclpp was not built with GDRCopy support (MSCCLPP_USE_GDRCOPY not set)"; }
+std::string gdrStatusMessage() { return "mscclpp was not built with GDRCopy support (MSCCLPP_USE_GDRCOPY not set)"; }
 
 // GdrMap::Impl — stub (no GDRCopy)
 
diff --git a/src/core/include/gdr.hpp b/src/core/include/gdr.hpp
index e0c7f006..c1378334 100644
--- a/src/core/include/gdr.hpp
+++ b/src/core/include/gdr.hpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <cstddef>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <memory>
+#include <string>
 
 namespace mscclpp {
 
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ GdrStatus gdrStatus();
 bool gdrEnabled();
 
 /// Return a human-readable error message for the current GDRCopy status.
-const char* gdrStatusMessage();
+std::string gdrStatusMessage();
 
 /// RAII wrapper for a GDRCopy BAR1 mapping of a GPU address.
 /// When GDRCopy is not available, all operations are no-ops and valid() returns false.