diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.txt b/RELEASE_NOTES.txt
index 6c3a34a4e0..2d35214999 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.txt
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Milestone 104
   * SkRuntimeEffect::Child now stores the child name as a string_view, rather than a SkString.
     Related methods SkRuntimeEffect::findChild and SkRuntimeEffectBuilder::child also take
     std::string_view instead of const char*. Also, SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader now takes the
-    child-name array as a std::string_view[] instead of const char*[].
+    child name(s) as std::string_view instead of const char*.
   * skcms.h has been relocated to //modules/skcms/skcms.h (was //include/third_party/skcms/skcms.h)
   * New functions SkCanvas::getBaseProps and SkCanvas::getTopProps; SkCanvas::getBaseProps is a
     direct replacement for the (now deprecated) SkCanvas::getProps function, while getTopProps is
diff --git a/gm/runtimeimagefilter.cpp b/gm/runtimeimagefilter.cpp
index 36e6af3435..f1b5bc0f12 100644
--- a/gm/runtimeimagefilter.cpp
+++ b/gm/runtimeimagefilter.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ static sk_sp<SkImageFilter> make_filter() {
         }
     )")).effect;
     SkRuntimeShaderBuilder builder(std::move(effect));
-    return SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, /*childShaderName=*/nullptr, /*input=*/nullptr);
+    return SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, /*childShaderName=*/"", /*input=*/nullptr);
 }
 
 DEF_SIMPLE_GM_BG(rtif_distort, canvas, 500, 750, SK_ColorBLACK) {
diff --git a/include/effects/SkImageFilters.h b/include/effects/SkImageFilters.h
index 7ed306c4c8..5665c60701 100644
--- a/include/effects/SkImageFilters.h
+++ b/include/effects/SkImageFilters.h
@@ -345,13 +345,13 @@ public:
      *                         fill the result image
      *  @param childShaderName The name of the child shader defined in the builder that will be
      *                         bound to the input param (or the source image if the input param
-     *                         is null).  If null, the builder can have exactly one child shader,
+     *                         is null).  If empty, the builder can have exactly one child shader,
      *                         which automatically binds the input param.
      *  @param input           The image filter that will be provided as input to the runtime
      *                         shader. If null the implicit source image is used instead
      */
     static sk_sp<SkImageFilter> RuntimeShader(const SkRuntimeShaderBuilder& builder,
-                                              const char* childShaderName,
+                                              std::string_view childShaderName,
                                               sk_sp<SkImageFilter> input);
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/effects/imagefilters/SkRuntimeImageFilter.cpp b/src/effects/imagefilters/SkRuntimeImageFilter.cpp
index b6a648e52d..0537e47395 100644
--- a/src/effects/imagefilters/SkRuntimeImageFilter.cpp
+++ b/src/effects/imagefilters/SkRuntimeImageFilter.cpp
@@ -224,22 +224,19 @@ static bool child_is_shader(const SkRuntimeEffect::Child* child) {
 }
 
 sk_sp<SkImageFilter> SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(const SkRuntimeShaderBuilder& builder,
-                                                   const char* childShaderName,
+                                                   std::string_view childShaderName,
                                                    sk_sp<SkImageFilter> input) {
     // If no childShaderName is provided, check to see if we can implicitly assign it to the only
     // child in the effect.
-    std::string_view childShaderNameView;
-    if (childShaderName != nullptr) {
-        childShaderNameView = childShaderName;
-    } else {
+    if (childShaderName.empty()) {
         auto children = builder.effect()->children();
         if (children.size() != 1) {
             return nullptr;
         }
-        childShaderNameView = children.front().name;
+        childShaderName = children.front().name;
     }
 
-    return SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, &childShaderNameView, &input, 1);
+    return SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, &childShaderName, &input, 1);
 }
 
 sk_sp<SkImageFilter> SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(const SkRuntimeShaderBuilder& builder,
diff --git a/tests/ShaderImageFilterTest.cpp b/tests/ShaderImageFilterTest.cpp
index d413239368..d7d5be4bb3 100644
--- a/tests/ShaderImageFilterTest.cpp
+++ b/tests/ShaderImageFilterTest.cpp
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ static void test_runtime_shader(skiatest::Reporter* r, SkSurface* surface) {
     // All 3 variations should produce the same pixel output
     std::vector<sk_sp<SkImageFilter>> filters = {
             SkMakeRuntimeImageFilter(effect, /*uniforms=*/nullptr, input),
-            SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, /*childShaderName=*/nullptr, input),
+            SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, /*childShaderName=*/"", input),
             SkImageFilters::RuntimeShader(builder, /*childShaderName=*/"child", input)};
 
     for (auto&& filter : filters) {