diff --git a/src/automaton/mod.rs b/src/automaton/mod.rs
index fe503ed..8813eed 100644
--- a/src/automaton/mod.rs
+++ b/src/automaton/mod.rs
@@ -178,6 +178,12 @@ impl<'a> Str<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'a> From<&'a [u8]> for Str<'a> {
+    fn from(string: &'a [u8]) -> Str<'a> {
+        Str { string }
+    }
+}
+
 impl<'a> Automaton for Str<'a> {
     type State = Option<usize>;
 
@@ -251,6 +257,12 @@ impl<'a> Subsequence<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'a> From<&'a [u8]> for Subsequence<'a> {
+    fn from(subsequence: &'a [u8]) -> Subsequence<'a> {
+        Subsequence { subseq: subsequence }
+    }
+}
+
 impl<'a> Automaton for Subsequence<'a> {
     type State = usize;