diff --git a/include/wx/string.h b/include/wx/string.h
index 425bb74bf1..79731a8e8d 100644
--- a/include/wx/string.h
+++ b/include/wx/string.h
@@ -793,7 +793,10 @@ public:
     operator const wchar_t*() const { return AsWChar(); }
 #else
     const char* AsChar() const;
+    const unsigned char* AsUnsignedChar() const
+        { return (const unsigned char *) AsChar(); }
     operator const char*() const { return AsChar(); }
+    operator const unsigned char*() const { return AsUnsignedChar(); }
 #endif
 
     wxString AsString() const;