diff --git a/Sources/Plasma/FeatureLib/pfPython/pyGlueHelpers.cpp b/Sources/Plasma/FeatureLib/pfPython/pyGlueHelpers.cpp
index 97c75486..b651b3c0 100644
--- a/Sources/Plasma/FeatureLib/pfPython/pyGlueHelpers.cpp
+++ b/Sources/Plasma/FeatureLib/pfPython/pyGlueHelpers.cpp
@@ -49,14 +49,18 @@ plString PyString_AsStringEx(PyObject* obj)
 {
     if (PyString_Check(obj))
         return plString::FromUtf8(PyString_AsString(obj));
-    else if (PyUnicode_Check(obj))
-    {
-        PyObject* utf8 = PyUnicode_AsUTF8String(obj);
-        plString str = plString::FromUtf8(PyString_AsString(utf8));
-        Py_DECREF(utf8);
-        return str;
-    } else
-        return plString::Null;
+
+    if (PyUnicode_Check(obj)) {
+#if (Py_UNICODE_SIZE == 2)
+        return plString::FromUtf16(reinterpret_cast<const uint16_t *>(PyUnicode_AsUnicode(obj)));
+#elif (Py_UNICODE_SIZE == 4)
+        return plString::FromUtf32(reinterpret_cast<const UniChar *>(PyUnicode_AsUnicode(obj)));
+#else
+#       error "Py_UNICODE is an unexpected size"
+#endif
+    }
+
+    return plString::Null;
 }
 
 bool PyString_CheckEx(PyObject* obj)