diff --git a/src/common/string.cpp b/src/common/string.cpp
index 930b488162..feb6d8e501 100644
--- a/src/common/string.cpp
+++ b/src/common/string.cpp
@@ -191,13 +191,7 @@ static wxStrCacheStatsDumper s_showCacheStats;
 wxSTD ostream& operator<<(wxSTD ostream& os, const wxCStrData& str)
 {
 #if wxUSE_UNICODE && !wxUSE_UNICODE_UTF8
-    const wxScopedCharBuffer buf(str.AsCharBuf());
-    if ( !buf )
-        os.clear(wxSTD ios_base::failbit);
-    else
-        os << buf.data();
-
-    return os;
+    return os << wxConvWhateverWorks.cWX2MB(str);
 #else
     return os << str.AsInternal();
 #endif