rust-lang / rust-lang/rust-clippy

clippy::useless_conversion suggested fix breaks code with lifetimes

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C-bug I-false-positive I-suggestion-causes-error
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Summary

clippy::useless_conversion is issued when Into is used to convert to the same type but with different lifetime. The suggested fix breaks the code.

rust playground

Lint Name

useless_conversion

Reproducer

I tried this code:

pub trait MyTrait {
    type Borrowed<'a>;
}

pub fn make_static<T: MyTrait>(x: T::Borrowed<'_>) -> T::Borrowed<'static>
where
    for<'a> T::Borrowed<'a>: Into<T::Borrowed<'static>>,
{
    x.into()
}

I saw this happen:

  |
9 |     x.into()
  |     ^^^^^^^^ help: consider removing `.into()`: `x`

This breaks:

pub fn make_static<T: MyTrait>(x: T::Borrowed<'_>) -> T::Borrowed<'static>
where
    for<'a> T::Borrowed<'a>: Into<T::Borrowed<'static>>,
{
    x
}
9 |     x
  |     ^ returning this value requires that `'1` must outlive `'static`
Version
rust stable 1.85.0
clippy 0.1.85 (2025-02-17 4d91de4e48)
Additional Labels

@rustbot label +I-suggestion-causes-error

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the useless_conversion lint and run the linked Rust Playground reproducer on the stated stable and Clippy versions. Trace how the lint builds its removal suggestion for lifetime-dependent associated types; done means the suggestion no longer produces the shown lifetime error while valid useless conversions remain diagnosed.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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