diff --git a/docs/changes.txt b/docs/changes.txt
index 740b6fa096..ccd78eff58 100644
--- a/docs/changes.txt
+++ b/docs/changes.txt
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ All:
 - Fix wxStringOutputStream::Write() in Unicode build when the argument
   overlaps UTF-8 characters boundary
 - Account for lines without newline at the end in wxExecute()
-- Added wxString::char_str() and wchar_str() methods for forward
-  compatiblity with wxWidgets 3
+- Added wxString::char_str(), wchar_str(), From8BitData() and To8BitData()
+  methods for forward compatiblity with wxWidgets 3
 
 All (Unix):
 
diff --git a/docs/latex/wx/wxstring.tex b/docs/latex/wx/wxstring.tex
index b8c3091f56..c3d8bd01f6 100644
--- a/docs/latex/wx/wxstring.tex
+++ b/docs/latex/wx/wxstring.tex
@@ -749,6 +749,24 @@ Returns the number of occurrences of {\it ch} in the string.
 
 This is a wxWidgets 1.xx compatibility function; you should not use it in new code.
 
+\membersection{wxString::From8BitData}\label{wxstringfrom8bitdata}
+
+\func{static wxString }{From8BitData}{\param{const char*}{ buf}, \param{size\_t}{len}}
+
+\func{static wxString }{From8BitData}{\param{const char*}{ buf}}
+
+Converts given buffer of binary data from 8-bit string to wxString. In Unicode
+build, the string is interpreted as being in ISO-8859-1 encoding. The version
+without \arg{len} parameter takes NUL-terminated data.
+
+This is a convenience method useful when storing binary data in wxString.
+
+\newsince{2.8.4}
+
+\wxheading{See also}
+
+\helpref{To8BitData}{wxstringto8bitdata}
+
 
 \membersection{wxString::FromAscii}\label{wxstringfromascii}
 
@@ -1122,6 +1140,26 @@ This is a wxWidgets 1.xx compatibility function, use \helpref{Mid}{wxstringmid}
 instead (but note that parameters have different meaning).
 
 
+\membersection{wxString::To8BitData}\label{wxstringto8bitdata}
+
+\constfunc{const char*}{To8BitData}{\void}
+
+Converts the string to an 8-bit string (ANSI builds only).
+
+\constfunc{const wxCharBuffer}{To8BitData}{\void}
+
+Converts the string to an 8-bit string in ISO-8859-1 encoding in the form of
+a wxCharBuffer (Unicode builds only).
+
+This is a convenience method useful when storing binary data in wxString.
+
+\newsince{2.8.4}
+
+\wxheading{See also}
+
+\helpref{From8BitData}{wxstringfrom8bitdata}
+
+
 \membersection{wxString::ToAscii}\label{wxstringtoascii}
 
 \constfunc{const char*}{ToAscii}{\void}
diff --git a/include/wx/string.h b/include/wx/string.h
index 1c5f303b90..cf081fd7de 100644
--- a/include/wx/string.h
+++ b/include/wx/string.h
@@ -863,6 +863,25 @@ public:
     const char *ToAscii() const { return c_str(); }
 #endif // Unicode/!Unicode
 
+#if wxABI_VERSION >= 20804
+    // functions for storing binary data in wxString:
+#if wxUSE_UNICODE
+    static wxString From8BitData(const char *data, size_t len)
+      { return wxString(data, wxConvISO8859_1, len); }
+    // version for NUL-terminated data:
+    static wxString From8BitData(const char *data)
+      { return wxString(data, wxConvISO8859_1); }
+    const wxCharBuffer To8BitData() const { return mb_str(wxConvISO8859_1); }
+#else // ANSI
+    static wxString From8BitData(const char *data, size_t len)
+      { return wxString(data, len); }
+    // version for NUL-terminated data:
+    static wxString From8BitData(const char *data)
+      { return wxString(data); }
+    const char *To8BitData() const { return c_str(); }
+#endif // Unicode/ANSI
+#endif // wxABI_VERSION >= 20804
+
     // conversions with (possible) format conversions: have to return a
     // buffer with temporary data
     //
diff --git a/version-script.in b/version-script.in
index 43e9c4bc35..6f51b00728 100644
--- a/version-script.in
+++ b/version-script.in
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@
 # public symbols added in 2.8.4 (please keep in alphabetical order):
 @WX_VERSION_TAG@.4 {
     global:
+        # wxString::To/From8BitData()
+        *wxString*To8BitData*;
+        *wxString*From8BitData*;
         # wxString::[w]char_str()
         *wxString*char_str*;
         # wxWritable[W]CharBuffer