diff --git a/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp b/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
index 79d51d41fb..a6e98ce5c4 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
@@ -68,13 +68,18 @@ void MemoryOutputStream::reset() noexcept
     size = 0;
 }
 
-void MemoryOutputStream::prepareToWrite (size_t numBytes)
+char* MemoryOutputStream::prepareToWrite (size_t numBytes)
 {
     jassert ((ssize_t) numBytes >= 0);
     size_t storageNeeded = position + numBytes;
 
     if (storageNeeded >= data.getSize())
         data.ensureSize ((storageNeeded + jmin (storageNeeded / 2, (size_t) (1024 * 1024)) + 32) & ~31u);
+
+    char* const writePointer = static_cast <char*> (data.getData()) + position;
+    position += numBytes;
+    size = jmax (size, position);
+    return writePointer;
 }
 
 bool MemoryOutputStream::write (const void* const buffer, size_t howMany)
@@ -82,12 +87,7 @@ bool MemoryOutputStream::write (const void* const buffer, size_t howMany)
     jassert (buffer != nullptr && ((ssize_t) howMany) >= 0);
 
     if (howMany > 0)
-    {
-        prepareToWrite (howMany);
-        memcpy (static_cast<char*> (data.getData()) + position, buffer, howMany);
-        position += howMany;
-        size = jmax (size, position);
-    }
+        memcpy (prepareToWrite (howMany), buffer, howMany);
 
     return true;
 }
@@ -95,12 +95,12 @@ bool MemoryOutputStream::write (const void* const buffer, size_t howMany)
 void MemoryOutputStream::writeRepeatedByte (uint8 byte, size_t howMany)
 {
     if (howMany > 0)
-    {
-        prepareToWrite (howMany);
-        memset (static_cast<char*> (data.getData()) + position, byte, howMany);
-        position += howMany;
-        size = jmax (size, position);
-    }
+        memset (prepareToWrite (howMany), byte, howMany);
+}
+
+void MemoryOutputStream::appendUTF8Char (juce_wchar c)
+{
+    CharPointer_UTF8 (prepareToWrite (CharPointer_UTF8::getBytesRequiredFor (c))).write (c);
 }
 
 MemoryBlock MemoryOutputStream::getMemoryBlock() const
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.h b/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.h
index da8422a7f2..cb969db556 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.h
+++ b/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class JUCE_API  MemoryOutputStream  : public OutputStream
 {
 public:
     //==============================================================================
-    /** Creates an empty memory stream ready for writing into.
+    /** Creates an empty memory stream, ready to be written into.
 
         @param initialSize  the intial amount of capacity to allocate for writing into
     */
@@ -70,13 +70,11 @@ public:
 
     //==============================================================================
     /** Returns a pointer to the data that has been written to the stream.
-
         @see getDataSize
     */
     const void* getData() const noexcept;
 
     /** Returns the number of bytes of data that have been written to the stream.
-
         @see getData
     */
     size_t getDataSize() const noexcept                 { return size; }
@@ -89,6 +87,9 @@ public:
     */
     void preallocate (size_t bytesToPreallocate);
 
+    /** Appends the utf-8 bytes for a unicode character */
+    void appendUTF8Char (juce_wchar character);
+
     /** Returns a String created from the (UTF8) data that has been written to the stream. */
     String toUTF8() const;
 
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ private:
     size_t position, size;
 
     void trimExternalBlockSize();
-    void prepareToWrite (size_t);
+    char* prepareToWrite (size_t);
 
     JUCE_DECLARE_NON_COPYABLE_WITH_LEAK_DETECTOR (MemoryOutputStream)
 };