diff --git a/aard.cc b/aard.cc
index d6a4eab7..df1d92fa 100644
--- a/aard.cc
+++ b/aard.cc
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ void AardDictionary::loadArticle( quint32 address,
 
     while( 1 )
     {
-      articleText = string( QObject::tr( "Article loading error" ).toUtf8().constData() );
+      articleText = QObject::tr( "Article loading error" ).toStdString();
       try
       {
         Mutex::Lock _( aardMutex );
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ void AardDictionary::loadArticle( quint32 address,
       articleText = convert( articleText );
     }
     else
-      articleText = string( QObject::tr( "Article decoding error" ).toUtf8().constData() );
+      articleText = QObject::tr( "Article decoding error" ).toStdString();
 
     // See Issue #271: A mechanism to clean-up invalid HTML cards.
     string cleaner = "</font>""</font>""</font>""</font>""</font>""</font>"
diff --git a/dsl.cc b/dsl.cc
index 84bd687e..164a42fe 100644
--- a/dsl.cc
+++ b/dsl.cc
@@ -1697,7 +1697,7 @@ void DslArticleRequest::run()
     {
       gdWarning( "DSL: Failed loading article from \"%s\", reason: %s\n", dict.getName().c_str(), ex.what() );
       articleText = string( "<span class=\"dsl_article\">" )
-                    + string( QObject::tr( "Article loading error" ).toUtf8().constData() )
+                    + QObject::tr( "Article loading error" ).toStdString()
                     + "</span>";
     }
 
diff --git a/mdictparser.hh b/mdictparser.hh
index b8dee43e..bd754f56 100644
--- a/mdictparser.hh
+++ b/mdictparser.hh
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ public:
   {
     QString s = QString::fromUtf8( article.c_str() );
     substituteStylesheet( s, styleSheets );
-    return string( s.toUtf8().constData() );
+    return s.toStdString();
   }
 
 protected:
diff --git a/mdx.cc b/mdx.cc
index 4165d0ab..caa3ec0f 100644
--- a/mdx.cc
+++ b/mdx.cc
@@ -977,7 +977,7 @@ void MdxDictionary::loadArticle( uint32_t offset, string & articleText, bool noF
   if( !noFilter )
     article = filterResource( articleId, article );
 
-  articleText = string( article.toUtf8().constData() );
+  articleText = article.toStdString();
 }
 
 QString & MdxDictionary::filterResource( QString const & articleId, QString & article )
@@ -1409,7 +1409,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries( vector< string > const & f
       if ( !parser.open( i->c_str() ) )
         continue;
 
-      string title = string( parser.title().toUtf8().constData() );
+      string title = parser.title().toStdString();
       initializing.indexingDictionary( title );
 
       for ( vector< string >::const_iterator mddIter = dictFiles.begin() + 1;
@@ -1440,7 +1440,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries( vector< string > const & f
 
       // then the encoding
       {
-        string encoding = string( parser.encoding().toUtf8().constData() );
+        string encoding = parser.encoding().toStdString();
         idx.write< uint32_t >( encoding.size() );
         idx.write( encoding.data(), encoding.size() );
       }
@@ -1457,7 +1457,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries( vector< string > const & f
 
       // Save dictionary description if there's one
       {
-        string description = string( parser.description().toUtf8().constData() );
+        string description = parser.description().toStdString();
         idxHeader.descriptionAddress = chunks.startNewBlock();
         chunks.addToBlock( description.c_str(), description.size() + 1 );
         idxHeader.descriptionSize = description.size() + 1;
@@ -1491,7 +1491,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries( vector< string > const & f
         mddIndices.push_back( mddIndexedWords );
         // Save filename for .mdd files only
         QFileInfo fi( mddParser->filename() );
-        mddFileNames.push_back( string( fi.fileName().toUtf8().constData() ) );
+        mddFileNames.push_back( fi.fileName().toStdString() );
         mddParsers.pop_front();
       }
 
@@ -1514,8 +1514,8 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries( vector< string > const & f
         for ( MdictParser::StyleSheets::const_iterator iter = styleSheets.begin();
               iter != styleSheets.end(); ++iter )
         {
-          string styleBegin( iter->second.first.toUtf8().constData() );
-          string styleEnd( iter->second.second.toUtf8().constData() );
+          string styleBegin(iter->second.first.toStdString());
+          string styleEnd( iter->second.second.toStdString() );
 
           // key
           idx.write<qint32>( iter->first );
diff --git a/slob.cc b/slob.cc
index 7851ebec..9b952e6a 100644
--- a/slob.cc
+++ b/slob.cc
@@ -694,12 +694,12 @@ SlobDictionary::SlobDictionary( string const & id,
 
     // Read dictionary name
 
-    dictionaryName = string( sf.getDictionaryName().toUtf8().constData() );
+    dictionaryName = sf.getDictionaryName().toStdString();
     if( dictionaryName.empty() )
     {
       QString name = QDir::fromNativeSeparators( FsEncoding::decode( dictionaryFiles[ 0 ].c_str() ) );
       int n = name.lastIndexOf( '/' );
-      dictionaryName = string( name.mid( n + 1 ).toUtf8().constData() );
+      dictionaryName = name.mid( n + 1 ).toStdString();
     }
 
     // Full-text search parameters
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ void SlobDictionary::loadArticle( quint32 address,
     articleText = convert( articleText, entry );
   }
   else
-    articleText = string( QObject::tr( "Article decoding error" ).toUtf8().constData() );
+    articleText = QObject::tr( "Article decoding error" ).toStdString();
 
   // See Issue #271: A mechanism to clean-up invalid HTML cards.
   string cleaner = "</font>""</font>""</font>""</font>""</font>""</font>"
diff --git a/zim.cc b/zim.cc
index e054778d..6dc8a9b1 100644
--- a/zim.cc
+++ b/zim.cc
@@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ ZimDictionary::ZimDictionary( string const & id,
     {
       QString name = QDir::fromNativeSeparators( FsEncoding::decode( dictionaryFiles[ 0 ].c_str() ) );
       int n = name.lastIndexOf( '/' );
-      dictionaryName = string( name.mid( n + 1 ).toUtf8().constData() );
+      dictionaryName = name.mid( n + 1 ).toStdString();
     }
     else
     {