diff --git a/src/user/user_util.cc b/src/user/user_util.cc
index b98516fc..6f5bc1a4 100644
--- a/src/user/user_util.cc
+++ b/src/user/user_util.cc
@@ -1333,6 +1333,10 @@ template <typename T> std::vector<T> StringToVector(char* cs) {
   return v;
 }
 
+template<> MJAPI std::vector<std::string> StringToVector(char* cs) {
+  return StringToVector<std::string>(std::string(cs));
+}
+
 template<> MJAPI std::vector<std::string> StringToVector(const std::string& s) {
   std::vector<std::string> v;
   std::stringstream ss(s);
diff --git a/src/user/user_util.h b/src/user/user_util.h
index b2842d85..65a21a7b 100644
--- a/src/user/user_util.h
+++ b/src/user/user_util.h
@@ -264,6 +264,7 @@ template<typename T> MJAPI std::string VectorToString(const std::vector<T>& v);
 // convert string to vector
 template<typename T> MJAPI std::vector<T> StringToVector(char *cs);
 template<typename T> MJAPI std::vector<T> StringToVector(const std::string& s);
+template<> MJAPI std::vector<std::string> StringToVector(char* cs);
 template<> MJAPI std::vector<std::string> StringToVector(const std::string& s);
 
 }  // namespace mujoco::user