diff --git a/src/goto-instrument/unwindset.cpp b/src/goto-instrument/unwindset.cpp
index 5865494a6ed..9a832ebe7e4 100644
--- a/src/goto-instrument/unwindset.cpp
+++ b/src/goto-instrument/unwindset.cpp
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ void unwindsett::parse_unwind(const std::string &unwind)
 
 void unwindsett::parse_unwindset(const std::string &unwindset)
 {
-  std::vector<std::string> unwindset_loops;
-  split_string(unwindset, ',', unwindset_loops, true, true);
+  std::vector<std::string> unwindset_loops =
+    split_string(unwindset, ',', true, true);
 
   for(auto &val : unwindset_loops)
   {
diff --git a/src/util/config.cpp b/src/util/config.cpp
index 9bea9ec7cd2..abf10afae0e 100644
--- a/src/util/config.cpp
+++ b/src/util/config.cpp
@@ -1301,8 +1301,8 @@ void configt::set_classpath(const std::string &cp)
   const char cp_separator = ':';
 #endif
 
-  std::vector<std::string> class_path;
-  split_string(cp, cp_separator, class_path);
+  std::vector<std::string> class_path =
+    split_string(cp, cp_separator);
   java.classpath.insert(
     java.classpath.end(), class_path.begin(), class_path.end());
 }
diff --git a/src/util/string_utils.cpp b/src/util/string_utils.cpp
index 996039e0409..7ba55a73fb5 100644
--- a/src/util/string_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/util/string_utils.cpp
@@ -116,10 +116,14 @@ void split_string(
   right=result[1];
 }
 
-std::vector<std::string> split_string(const std::string &s, char delim)
+std::vector<std::string> split_string(
+  const std::string &s,
+  char delim,
+  bool strip,
+  bool remove_empty)
 {
   std::vector<std::string> result;
-  split_string(s, delim, result);
+  split_string(s, delim, result, strip, remove_empty);
   return result;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/util/string_utils.h b/src/util/string_utils.h
index 17936ede3de..803a4ab4d0b 100644
--- a/src/util/string_utils.h
+++ b/src/util/string_utils.h
@@ -30,7 +30,11 @@ void split_string(
   std::string &right,
   bool strip=false);
 
-std::vector<std::string> split_string(const std::string &s, char delim);
+std::vector<std::string> split_string(
+  const std::string &s,
+  char delim,
+  bool strip = false,
+  bool remove_empty = false);
 
 std::string trim_from_last_delimiter(
   const std::string &s,
diff --git a/src/util/unwrap_nested_exception.cpp b/src/util/unwrap_nested_exception.cpp
index 0689391466b..7f54b313a19 100644
--- a/src/util/unwrap_nested_exception.cpp
+++ b/src/util/unwrap_nested_exception.cpp
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ Author: Diffblue Ltd.
 std::string unwrap_exception(const std::exception &e, int level)
 {
   const std::string msg = e.what();
-  std::vector<std::string> lines;
-  split_string(msg, '\n', lines, false, true);
+  std::vector<std::string> lines =
+    split_string(msg, '\n', false, true);
   std::ostringstream message_stream;
   message_stream << std::string(level, ' ') << "exception: ";
   join_strings(
diff --git a/unit/util/string_utils/split_string.cpp b/unit/util/string_utils/split_string.cpp
index d98d3574a6c..f47b411e8c6 100644
--- a/unit/util/string_utils/split_string.cpp
+++ b/unit/util/string_utils/split_string.cpp
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ void run_on_all_variants(
 {
   WHEN("Not stripping, not removing empty")
   {
-    std::vector<std::string> result;
-    split_string(string, delimiter, result, false, false);
+    std::vector<std::string> result =
+      split_string(string, delimiter, false, false);
 
     THEN("Should get expected vector")
     {
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ void run_on_all_variants(
   }
   WHEN("Not stripping, removing empty")
   {
-    std::vector<std::string> result;
-    split_string(string, delimiter, result, false, true);
+    std::vector<std::string> result =
+      split_string(string, delimiter, false, true);
 
     THEN("Should get expected vector")
     {
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ void run_on_all_variants(
   }
   WHEN("Stripping, not removing empty")
   {
-    std::vector<std::string> result;
-    split_string(string, delimiter, result, true, false);
+    std::vector<std::string> result =
+      split_string(string, delimiter, true, false);
 
     THEN("Should get expected vector")
     {
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ void run_on_all_variants(
   }
   WHEN("Stripping and removing empty")
   {
-    std::vector<std::string> result;
-    split_string(string, delimiter, result, true, true);
+    std::vector<std::string> result =
+    split_string(string, delimiter, true, true);
 
     THEN("Should get expected vector")
     {
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ SCENARIO("split_string", "[core][utils][string_utils][split_string]")
 
     WHEN("Not stripping, not removing empty")
     {
-      std::vector<std::string> result;
-      split_string(string, delimiter, result, false, false);
+      std::vector<std::string> result =
+        split_string(string, delimiter, false, false);
 
       THEN("Should get expected vector")
       {
@@ -154,8 +154,8 @@ SCENARIO("split_string", "[core][utils][string_utils][split_string]")
     }
     WHEN("Not stripping, removing empty")
     {
-      std::vector<std::string> result;
-      split_string(string, delimiter, result, false, true);
+      std::vector<std::string> result =
+        split_string(string, delimiter, false, true);
 
       THEN("Should get expected vector")
       {