diff --git a/boot/scene.c b/boot/scene.c
index 030f6aa2a0..d2f77c008c 100644
--- a/boot/scene.c
+++ b/boot/scene.c
@@ -65,16 +65,12 @@ void scene_destroy(struct scene *scn)
 		scene_obj_destroy(obj);
 
 	free(scn->name);
-	free(scn->title);
 	free(scn);
 }
 
-int scene_title_set(struct scene *scn, const char *title)
+int scene_title_set(struct scene *scn, uint id)
 {
-	free(scn->title);
-	scn->title = strdup(title);
-	if (!scn->title)
-		return log_msg_ret("tit", -ENOMEM);
+	scn->title_id = id;
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/include/expo.h b/include/expo.h
index d242f48e30..8827f4b0b4 100644
--- a/include/expo.h
+++ b/include/expo.h
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ struct expo_string {
  * @expo: Expo this scene is part of
  * @name: Name of the scene (allocated)
  * @id: ID number of the scene
- * @title: Title of the scene (allocated)
+ * @title_id: String ID of title of the scene (allocated)
  * @sibling: Node to link this scene to its siblings
  * @obj_head: List of objects in the scene
  */
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ struct scene {
 	struct expo *expo;
 	char *name;
 	uint id;
-	char *title;
+	uint title_id;
 	struct list_head sibling;
 	struct list_head obj_head;
 };
@@ -338,10 +338,10 @@ struct scene *expo_lookup_scene_id(struct expo *exp, uint scene_id);
  * scene_title_set() - set the scene title
  *
  * @scn: Scene to update
- * @title: Title to set, NULL if none (this is allocated by this call)
- * Returns: 0 if OK, -ENOMEM if out of memory
+ * @title_id: Title ID to set
+ * Returns: 0 if OK
  */
-int scene_title_set(struct scene *scn, const char *title);
+int scene_title_set(struct scene *scn, uint title_id);
 
 /**
  * scene_obj_count() - Count the number of objects in a scene
diff --git a/test/boot/expo.c b/test/boot/expo.c
index 7104dff05e..3c0bc78bb7 100644
--- a/test/boot/expo.c
+++ b/test/boot/expo.c
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ enum {
 	OBJ_MENU_TITLE,
 
 	/* strings */
+	STR_SCENE_TITLE,
+
 	STR_TEXT,
 	STR_TEXT2,
 	STR_MENU_TITLE,
@@ -120,7 +122,7 @@ static int expo_scene(struct unit_test_state *uts)
 	struct expo *exp;
 	ulong start_mem;
 	char name[100];
-	int id;
+	int id, title_id;
 
 	start_mem = ut_check_free();
 
@@ -141,21 +143,20 @@ static int expo_scene(struct unit_test_state *uts)
 	ut_asserteq_str(SCENE_NAME1, scn->name);
 
 	/* Set the title */
-	strcpy(name, SCENE_TITLE);
-	ut_assertok(scene_title_set(scn, name));
-	*name = '\0';
-	ut_assertnonnull(scn->title);
-	ut_asserteq_str(SCENE_TITLE, scn->title);
+	title_id = expo_str(exp, "title", STR_SCENE_TITLE, SCENE_TITLE);
+	ut_assert(title_id >= 0);
 
-	/* Use an allocated ID */
+	/* Use an allocated ID - this will be allocated after the title str */
 	scn = NULL;
 	id = scene_new(exp, SCENE_NAME2, 0, &scn);
 	ut_assertnonnull(scn);
-	ut_asserteq(SCENE2, id);
-	ut_asserteq(SCENE2 + 1, exp->next_id);
+	ut_assertok(scene_title_set(scn, title_id));
+	ut_asserteq(STR_SCENE_TITLE + 1, id);
+	ut_asserteq(STR_SCENE_TITLE + 2, exp->next_id);
 	ut_asserteq_ptr(exp, scn->expo);
 
 	ut_asserteq_str(SCENE_NAME2, scn->name);
+	ut_asserteq(title_id, scn->title_id);
 
 	expo_destroy(exp);