diff --git a/src/group.cpp b/src/group.cpp
index 61f28c2551..79405c9344 100644
--- a/src/group.cpp
+++ b/src/group.cpp
@@ -584,10 +584,10 @@ void Group::create(char *name, int *flag)
    return group index if name matches existing group, -1 if no such group
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-int Group::find(const char *name)
+int Group::find(const std::string &name)
 {
   for (int igroup = 0; igroup < MAX_GROUP; igroup++)
-    if (names[igroup] && strcmp(name,names[igroup]) == 0) return igroup;
+    if (names[igroup] && (name == names[igroup])) return igroup;
   return -1;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/group.h b/src/group.h
index 4c7dca0835..b9a5c27140 100644
--- a/src/group.h
+++ b/src/group.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class Group : protected Pointers {
   void assign(int, char **);         // assign atoms to a group
   void assign(const std::string &);  // convenience function
   void create(char *, int *);        // add flagged atoms to a group
-  int find(const char *);            // lookup name in list of groups
+  int find(const std::string &);     // lookup name in list of groups
   int find_or_create(const char *);  // lookup name or create new group
   void write_restart(FILE *);
   void read_restart(FILE *);