diff --git a/include/string.hpp b/include/string.hpp
index ad093e05..eafe63fc 100644
--- a/include/string.hpp
+++ b/include/string.hpp
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ namespace rack {
 namespace string {
 
 
+/** Converts a UTF-16/32 string (depending on the size of wchar_t) to a UTF-8 string. */
+std::string fromWstring(const std::wstring &s);
+std::wstring toWstring(const std::string &s);
 /** Converts a `printf()` format string and optional arguments into a std::string
 Remember that "%s" must reference a `char *`, so use `.c_str()` for `std::string`s.
 */
diff --git a/src/asset.cpp b/src/asset.cpp
index 6cdd9ebd..7f3be2aa 100644
--- a/src/asset.cpp
+++ b/src/asset.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "asset.hpp"
 #include "system.hpp"
 #include "settings.hpp"
+#include "string.hpp"
 #include "plugin/Plugin.hpp"
 
 #if defined ARCH_MAC
@@ -52,10 +53,7 @@ void init() {
 			// Convert to short path to avoid Unicode
 			wchar_t moduleBufShortW[MAX_PATH];
 			GetShortPathNameW(moduleBufW, moduleBufShortW, LENGTHOF(moduleBufShortW));
-			// Convert to UTF-8.
-			char moduleBuf[MAX_PATH];
-			WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, moduleBufShortW, -1, moduleBuf, sizeof(moduleBuf), NULL, NULL);
-			systemDir = moduleBuf;
+			systemDir = string::fromWstring(moduleBufShortW);
 #endif
 #if defined ARCH_LIN
 			// Users should launch Rack from their terminal in the system directory
@@ -74,14 +72,11 @@ void init() {
 			// Get "My Documents" folder
 			wchar_t documentsBufW[MAX_PATH] = L".";
 			HRESULT result = SHGetFolderPathW(NULL, CSIDL_MYDOCUMENTS, NULL, SHGFP_TYPE_CURRENT, documentsBufW);
-			// assert(result == S_OK);
+			assert(result == S_OK);
 			// Convert to short path to avoid Unicode
 			wchar_t documentsBufShortW[MAX_PATH];
 			GetShortPathNameW(documentsBufW, documentsBufShortW, LENGTHOF(documentsBufShortW));
-			// Convert to UTF-8.
-			char documentsBuf[MAX_PATH];
-			WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, documentsBufShortW, -1, documentsBuf, sizeof(documentsBuf), NULL, NULL);
-			userDir = documentsBuf;
+			userDir = string::fromWstring(documentsBufShortW);
 			userDir += "/Rack";
 #endif
 #if defined ARCH_MAC
diff --git a/src/string.cpp b/src/string.cpp
index aa9a404a..a7781d5a 100644
--- a/src/string.cpp
+++ b/src/string.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #include "string.hpp"
+#include <locale> // for wstring_convert
+#include <codecvt> // for codecvt_utf8_utf16
 #include <cctype> // for tolower and toupper
 #include <algorithm> // for transform
 #include <libgen.h> // for dirname and basename
@@ -8,6 +10,16 @@ namespace rack {
 namespace string {
 
 
+std::string fromWstring(const std::wstring &s) {
+	std::wstring_convert<std::codecvt_utf8_utf16<wchar_t>> converter;
+	return converter.to_bytes(s);
+}
+
+std::wstring toWstring(const std::string &s) {
+	std::wstring_convert<std::codecvt_utf8_utf16<wchar_t>> converter;
+	return converter.from_bytes(s);
+}
+
 std::string f(const char *format, ...) {
 	va_list args;
 	va_start(args, format);
diff --git a/src/system.cpp b/src/system.cpp
index 533a87ae..1e000a16 100644
--- a/src/system.cpp
+++ b/src/system.cpp
@@ -85,9 +85,8 @@ void copyFile(const std::string &srcPath, const std::string &destPath) {
 
 void createDirectory(const std::string &path) {
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
-	wchar_t pathW[MAX_PATH];
-	MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path.c_str(), -1, pathW, LENGTHOF(pathW));
-	CreateDirectoryW(pathW, NULL);
+	std::wstring pathW = string::toWstring(path);
+	CreateDirectoryW(pathW.c_str(), NULL);
 #else
 	mkdir(path.c_str(), 0755);
 #endif
@@ -162,9 +161,8 @@ void openBrowser(const std::string &url) {
 	std::system(command.c_str());
 #endif
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
-	wchar_t urlW[1024];
-	MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, url.c_str(), -1, urlW, LENGTHOF(urlW));
-	ShellExecuteW(NULL, L"open", urlW, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
+	std::wstring urlW = string::toWstring(url);
+	ShellExecuteW(NULL, L"open", urlW.c_str(), NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
 #endif
 }
 
@@ -174,9 +172,8 @@ void openFolder(const std::string &path) {
 	(void) std::system(command.c_str());
 #endif
 #if defined ARCH_WIN
-	wchar_t pathW[MAX_PATH];
-	MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path.c_str(), -1, pathW, LENGTHOF(pathW));
-	ShellExecuteW(NULL, L"explorer", pathW, NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
+	std::wstring pathW = string::toWstring(path);
+	ShellExecuteW(NULL, L"explorer", pathW.c_str(), NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
 #endif
 }
 
@@ -190,9 +187,8 @@ void runProcessAsync(const std::string &path) {
 	startupInfo.cb = sizeof(startupInfo);
 	std::memset(&processInfo, 0, sizeof(processInfo));
 
-	wchar_t pathW[MAX_PATH];
-	MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, path.c_str(), -1, pathW, LENGTHOF(pathW));
-	CreateProcessW(pathW, NULL,
+	std::wstring pathW = string::toWstring(path);
+	CreateProcessW(pathW.c_str(), NULL,
 		NULL, NULL, false, 0, NULL, NULL,
 		&startupInfo, &processInfo);
 #endif