diff --git a/project/src/ExternalInterface.cpp b/project/src/ExternalInterface.cpp
index 08195e7eb..bf746d0fa 100644
--- a/project/src/ExternalInterface.cpp
+++ b/project/src/ExternalInterface.cpp
@@ -175,6 +175,54 @@ namespace lime {
 	}
 
 
+	value wstring_to_value (std::wstring* val) {
+
+		if (val) {
+
+			#ifdef HX_WINDOWS
+			return alloc_wstring (val->c_str ());
+			#else
+			std::string _val = std::string (val->begin (), val->end ());
+			return alloc_string (_val.c_str ());
+			#endif
+
+		} else {
+
+			return 0;
+
+		}
+
+	}
+
+
+	vbyte* wstring_to_vbytes (std::wstring* val) {
+
+		if (val) {
+
+			#ifdef HX_WINDOWS
+			int size = std::wcslen (val->c_str ());
+			char* result = (char*)malloc (size + 1);
+			std::wcstombs (result, val->c_str (), size);
+			result[size] = '\0';
+			return (vbyte*)result;
+			#else
+			std::string _val = std::string (val->begin (), val->end ());
+			int size = std::strlen (_val.c_str ());
+			char* result = (char*)malloc (size + 1);
+			std::strncpy (result, _val.c_str (), size);
+			result[size] = '\0';
+			return (vbyte*)result;
+			#endif
+
+		} else {
+
+			return 0;
+
+		}
+
+	}
+
+
 	value lime_application_create () {
 
 		Application* application = CreateApplication ();
@@ -687,7 +735,7 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		if (path) {
 
-			value _path = alloc_wstring (path->c_str ());
+			value _path = wstring_to_value (path);
 			delete path;
 			return _path;
 
@@ -720,13 +768,9 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		if (path) {
 
-			int size = std::wcslen (path->c_str ());
-			char* result = (char*)malloc (size + 1);
-			std::wcstombs (result, path->c_str (), size);
-			result[size] = '\0';
+			vbyte* _path = wstring_to_vbytes (path);
 			delete path;
-
-			return (vbyte*)result;
+			return _path;
 
 		} else {
 
@@ -757,7 +801,7 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		if (path) {
 
-			value _path = alloc_wstring (path->c_str ());
+			value _path = wstring_to_value (path);
 			delete path;
 			return _path;
 
@@ -790,13 +834,9 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		if (path) {
 
-			int size = std::wcslen (path->c_str ());
-			char* result = (char*)malloc (size + 1);
-			std::wcstombs (result, path->c_str (), size);
-			result[size] = '\0';
+			vbyte* _path = wstring_to_vbytes (path);
 			delete path;
-
-			return (vbyte*)result;
+			return _path;
 
 		} else {
 
@@ -830,7 +870,8 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		for (int i = 0; i < files.size (); i++) {
 
-			val_array_set_i (result, i, alloc_wstring (files[i]->c_str ()));
+			value _file = wstring_to_value (files[i]);
+			val_array_set_i (result, i, _file);
 			delete files[i];
 
 		}
@@ -864,12 +905,8 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		for (int i = 0; i < files.size (); i++) {
 
-			int size = std::wcslen (files[i]->c_str ());
-			char* _file = (char*)malloc (size + 1);
-			std::wcstombs (_file, files[i]->c_str (), size);
-			_file[size] = '\0';
-
-			*resultData++ = (vbyte*)_file;
+			vbyte* _file = wstring_to_vbytes (files[i]);
+			*resultData++ = _file;
 			delete files[i];
 
 		}
@@ -899,7 +936,7 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		if (path) {
 
-			value _path = alloc_wstring (path->c_str ());
+			value _path = wstring_to_value (path);
 			delete path;
 			return _path;
 
@@ -932,13 +969,9 @@ namespace lime {
 
 		if (path) {
 
-			int size = std::wcslen (path->c_str ());
-			char* result = (char*)malloc (size + 1);
-			std::wcstombs (result, path->c_str (), size);
-			result[size] = '\0';
+			vbyte* _path = wstring_to_vbytes (path);
 			delete path;
-
-			return (vbyte*)result;
+			return _path;
 
 		} else {