diff --git a/labyrinth_macros/Cargo.toml b/labyrinth_macros/Cargo.toml
index 959e93a..1804eb2 100644
--- a/labyrinth_macros/Cargo.toml
+++ b/labyrinth_macros/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "labyrinth_macros"
-version = "2.0.0"
+version = "3.0.0"
 edition = "2021"
 authors = ["Pranav Dronavalli <dronavallipranav@gmail.com>"]
 description = "A procedural macro crate for the cryptify crate meant to provide obfuscation through compile time string encryption. not meant to be used standalone"
diff --git a/labyrinth_macros/src/lib.rs b/labyrinth_macros/src/lib.rs
index 15c80c9..1c9efd5 100644
--- a/labyrinth_macros/src/lib.rs
+++ b/labyrinth_macros/src/lib.rs
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ pub fn encrypt_string(input: TokenStream) -> TokenStream {
     let encrypted_string = xor_cipher(&string, &key);
 
     let output = quote! {
-        cryptify::decrypt_string(#encrypted_string)
+        cryptify::decrypt_string(#encrypted_string).as_ref()
     };
 
     TokenStream::from(output)