diff --git a/ext/sqlite3/statement.c b/ext/sqlite3/statement.c
index ad1765f2..b8511bf8 100644
--- a/ext/sqlite3/statement.c
+++ b/ext/sqlite3/statement.c
@@ -382,8 +382,7 @@ column_name(VALUE self, VALUE index)
     VALUE ret = Qnil;
 
     if (name) {
-        ret = SQLITE3_UTF8_STR_NEW2(name);
-        rb_obj_freeze(ret);
+        ret = rb_enc_interned_str_cstr(name, rb_utf8_encoding());
     }
     return ret;
 }
diff --git a/test/test_statement.rb b/test/test_statement.rb
index c4a22662..bfcef572 100644
--- a/test/test_statement.rb
+++ b/test/test_statement.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,22 @@ def test_raises_type_error
       end
     end
 
+    def test_column_names_are_deduped
+      @db.execute 'CREATE TABLE "things" ("float" float, "int" int, "text" blob, "string" string, "nil" string)'
+      stmt = @db.prepare 'SELECT float, int, text, string, nil FROM things'
+      assert_equal ["float", "int", "text", "string", "nil"], stmt.columns
+      columns = stmt.columns
+      stmt.close
+
+      stmt = @db.prepare 'SELECT float, int, text, string, nil FROM things'
+      # Make sure this new statement returns the same interned strings
+      stmt.columns.each_with_index do |str, i|
+        assert_same columns[i], str
+      end
+    ensure
+      stmt&.close
+    end
+
     def test_insert_duplicate_records
       @db.execute 'CREATE TABLE "things" ("name" varchar(20) CONSTRAINT "index_things_on_name" UNIQUE)'
       stmt = @db.prepare("INSERT INTO things(name) VALUES(?)")