diff --git a/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_builder.rs b/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_builder.rs
index 94f50603ff..78a045d6c4 100644
--- a/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_builder.rs
+++ b/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_builder.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use crate::{
     AdviceInjector, DebugOptions, Decorator, SignatureKind,
 };
 
-use super::{decorator::EncodedDecoratorVariant, DataOffset, StringIndex, StringRef};
+use super::{decorator::EncodedDecoratorVariant, DataOffset, StringIndex};
 
 // BASIC BLOCK DATA BUILDER
 // ================================================================================================
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ impl BasicBlockDataBuilder {
     }
 
     /// Returns the serialized [`crate::mast::MastForest`] data field, as well as the string table.
-    pub fn into_parts(mut self) -> (Vec<u8>, Vec<StringRef>) {
+    pub fn into_parts(mut self) -> (Vec<u8>, Vec<DataOffset>) {
         let string_table = self.string_table_builder.into_table(&mut self.data);
         (self.data, string_table)
     }
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ impl BasicBlockDataBuilder {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Default)]
 struct StringTableBuilder {
-    table: Vec<StringRef>,
+    table: Vec<DataOffset>,
     str_to_index: BTreeMap<Blake3Digest<32>, StringIndex>,
     strings_data: Vec<u8>,
 }
@@ -153,35 +153,29 @@ impl StringTableBuilder {
         } else {
             // add new string to table
             // NOTE: these string refs' offset will need to be shifted again in `into_table()`
-            let str_ref = StringRef {
-                offset: self
-                    .strings_data
-                    .len()
-                    .try_into()
-                    .expect("strings table larger than 2^32 bytes"),
-            };
+            let str_offset = self
+                .strings_data
+                .len()
+                .try_into()
+                .expect("strings table larger than 2^32 bytes");
+
             let str_idx = self.table.len();
 
             string.write_into(&mut self.strings_data);
-            self.table.push(str_ref);
+            self.table.push(str_offset);
             self.str_to_index.insert(Blake3_256::hash(string.as_bytes()), str_idx);
 
             str_idx
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn into_table(self, data: &mut Vec<u8>) -> Vec<StringRef> {
+    pub fn into_table(self, data: &mut Vec<u8>) -> Vec<DataOffset> {
         let table_offset: u32 = data
             .len()
             .try_into()
             .expect("MAST forest serialization: data field longer than 2^32 bytes");
         data.extend(self.strings_data);
 
-        self.table
-            .into_iter()
-            .map(|str_ref| StringRef {
-                offset: str_ref.offset + table_offset,
-            })
-            .collect()
+        self.table.into_iter().map(|str_offset| str_offset + table_offset).collect()
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_decoder.rs b/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_decoder.rs
index 8a9d50e902..78dd77215f 100644
--- a/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_decoder.rs
+++ b/core/src/mast/serialization/basic_block_data_decoder.rs
@@ -2,19 +2,19 @@ use crate::{
     AdviceInjector, AssemblyOp, DebugOptions, Decorator, DecoratorList, Operation, SignatureKind,
 };
 
-use super::{decorator::EncodedDecoratorVariant, DataOffset, StringIndex, StringRef};
+use super::{decorator::EncodedDecoratorVariant, DataOffset, StringIndex};
 use alloc::{string::String, vec::Vec};
 use miden_crypto::Felt;
 use winter_utils::{ByteReader, Deserializable, DeserializationError, SliceReader};
 
 pub struct BasicBlockDataDecoder<'a> {
     data: &'a [u8],
-    strings: &'a [StringRef],
+    strings: &'a [DataOffset],
 }
 
 /// Constructors
 impl<'a> BasicBlockDataDecoder<'a> {
-    pub fn new(data: &'a [u8], strings: &'a [StringRef]) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(data: &'a [u8], strings: &'a [DataOffset]) -> Self {
         Self { data, strings }
     }
 }
@@ -189,15 +189,9 @@ impl<'a> BasicBlockDataDecoder<'a> {
     }
 
     fn read_string(&self, str_idx: StringIndex) -> Result<String, DeserializationError> {
-        let str_offset = {
-            let str_ref = self.strings.get(str_idx).ok_or_else(|| {
-                DeserializationError::InvalidValue(format!(
-                    "invalid index in strings table: {str_idx}"
-                ))
-            })?;
-
-            str_ref.offset as usize
-        };
+        let str_offset = self.strings.get(str_idx).copied().ok_or_else(|| {
+            DeserializationError::InvalidValue(format!("invalid index in strings table: {str_idx}"))
+        })? as usize;
 
         let mut reader = SliceReader::new(&self.data[str_offset..]);
         reader.read()
diff --git a/core/src/mast/serialization/mod.rs b/core/src/mast/serialization/mod.rs
index d8a6b0f455..a71c79c89a 100644
--- a/core/src/mast/serialization/mod.rs
+++ b/core/src/mast/serialization/mod.rs
@@ -39,32 +39,6 @@ const MAGIC: &[u8; 5] = b"MAST\0";
 /// version field itself, but should be considered invalid for now.
 const VERSION: [u8; 3] = [0, 0, 0];
 
-// STRING REF
-// ================================================================================================
-
-/// An entry in the `strings` table of an encoded [`MastForest`].
-///
-/// Strings are UTF8-encoded.
-#[derive(Debug)]
-pub struct StringRef {
-    /// Offset into the `data` section.
-    offset: DataOffset,
-}
-
-impl Serializable for StringRef {
-    fn write_into<W: ByteWriter>(&self, target: &mut W) {
-        self.offset.write_into(target);
-    }
-}
-
-impl Deserializable for StringRef {
-    fn read_from<R: ByteReader>(source: &mut R) -> Result<Self, DeserializationError> {
-        let offset = DataOffset::read_from(source)?;
-
-        Ok(Self { offset })
-    }
-}
-
 // MAST FOREST SERIALIZATION/DESERIALIZATION
 // ================================================================================================
 
@@ -131,7 +105,7 @@ impl Deserializable for MastForest {
 
         let roots: Vec<MastNodeId> = Deserializable::read_from(source)?;
 
-        let strings: Vec<StringRef> = Deserializable::read_from(source)?;
+        let strings: Vec<DataOffset> = Deserializable::read_from(source)?;
 
         let data: Vec<u8> = Deserializable::read_from(source)?;