diff --git a/src/vtab/csvtab.rs b/src/vtab/csvtab.rs
index ee87e19..a49800f 100644
--- a/src/vtab/csvtab.rs
+++ b/src/vtab/csvtab.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 //! CSV Virtual Table
 extern crate csv;
-use std::ffi::CStr;
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::result;
@@ -32,14 +31,17 @@ init_module!(CSV_MODULE,
              csv_column,
              csv_rowid);
 
+/// An instance of the CSV virtual table
 #[repr(C)]
 struct CSVTab {
-    /// Base class
+    /// Base class. Must be first
     base: ffi::sqlite3_vtab,
+    /// Name of the CSV file
     filename: String,
     has_headers: bool,
     delimiter: u8,
     quote: u8,
+    /// Offset to start of data
     offset_first_row: u64,
 }
 
@@ -56,13 +58,13 @@ impl CSVTab {
 impl VTab<CSVTabCursor> for CSVTab {
     fn create(db: *mut ffi::sqlite3,
               _aux: *mut libc::c_void,
-              args: &[*const libc::c_char])
+              args: &[&[u8]])
               -> Result<CSVTab> {
         if args.len() < 4 {
             return Err(Error::ModuleError("no CSV file specified".to_owned()));
         }
         // pull out name of csv file (remove quotes)
-        let mut c_filename = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(args[3]).to_bytes() };
+        let mut c_filename = args[3];
         if c_filename[0] == b'\'' {
             c_filename = &c_filename[1..c_filename.len() - 1];
         }
@@ -81,8 +83,7 @@ impl VTab<CSVTabCursor> for CSVTab {
         let mut cols: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
 
         let args = &args[4..];
-        for c_arg in args {
-            let c_slice = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(*c_arg).to_bytes() };
+        for c_slice in args {
             if c_slice.len() == 1 {
                 vtab.delimiter = c_slice[0];
             } else if c_slice.len() == 3 && c_slice[0] == b'\'' {
@@ -121,7 +122,7 @@ impl VTab<CSVTabCursor> for CSVTab {
             }
             sql.push('"');
             sql.push_str(col);
-            sql.push('"');
+            sql.push_str("\" TEXT");
             if i == cols.len() - 1 {
                 sql.push_str(");");
             } else {
@@ -140,11 +141,12 @@ impl VTab<CSVTabCursor> for CSVTab {
     }
 }
 
-
+/// A cursor for the CSV virtual table
 #[repr(C)]
 struct CSVTabCursor {
-    /// Base class
+    /// Base class. Must be first
     base: ffi::sqlite3_vtab_cursor,
+    /// The CSV reader object
     reader: csv::Reader<File>,
     /// Current cursor position
     row_number: usize,
diff --git a/src/vtab/int_array.rs b/src/vtab/int_array.rs
index ea5a224..b8730a5 100644
--- a/src/vtab/int_array.rs
+++ b/src/vtab/int_array.rs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ struct IntArrayVTab {
 impl VTab<IntArrayVTabCursor> for IntArrayVTab {
     fn create(db: *mut ffi::sqlite3,
               aux: *mut libc::c_void,
-              _args: &[*const libc::c_char])
+              _args: &[&[u8]])
               -> Result<IntArrayVTab> {
         let array = unsafe { mem::transmute(aux) };
         let vtab = IntArrayVTab {
diff --git a/src/vtab/mod.rs b/src/vtab/mod.rs
index 9388aa1..8acc367 100644
--- a/src/vtab/mod.rs
+++ b/src/vtab/mod.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 //! Create virtual tables.
 //! (See http://sqlite.org/vtab.html)
-use std::borrow::Cow;
-use std::borrow::Cow::{Borrowed, Owned};
+use std::borrow::Cow::{self, Borrowed, Owned};
 use std::ffi::CString;
 use std::mem;
 use std::ptr;
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ pub trait VTab<C: VTabCursor<Self>>: Sized {
     /// The `db` parameter is a pointer to the SQLite database connection that is executing the CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE statement.
     fn create(db: *mut ffi::sqlite3,
               aux: *mut libc::c_void,
-              args: &[*const libc::c_char])
+              args: &[&[u8]])
               -> Result<Self>;
     /// Determine the best way to access the virtual table.
     fn best_index(&self, info: *mut ffi::sqlite3_index_info);
@@ -186,10 +185,14 @@ unsafe extern "C" fn $create(db: *mut ffi::sqlite3,
                               err_msg: *mut *mut libc::c_char)
                               -> libc::c_int {
     use std::error::Error as StdError;
+    use std::ffi::CStr;
     use std::slice;
     use vtab::mprintf;
     let args = slice::from_raw_parts(argv, argc as usize);
-    match $vtab::create(db, aux, args) {
+    let vec = args.iter().map(|cs| {
+        CStr::from_ptr(*cs).to_bytes()
+    }).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    match $vtab::create(db, aux, &vec[..]) {
         Ok(vtab) => {
             let boxed_vtab: *mut $vtab = Box::into_raw(Box::new(vtab));
             *pp_vtab = boxed_vtab as *mut ffi::sqlite3_vtab;