diff --git a/include/linphone/utils/utils.h b/include/linphone/utils/utils.h
index fa0a55db8..6bca0933b 100644
--- a/include/linphone/utils/utils.h
+++ b/include/linphone/utils/utils.h
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ namespace Utils {
 	// Return a buffer allocated with new.
 	LINPHONE_PUBLIC char *utf8ToChar (uint32_t ic);
 
+	LINPHONE_PUBLIC inline std::string cStringToCppString (const char *str) {
+		return str ? str : "";
+	}
+
 	template<typename T>
 	LINPHONE_PUBLIC const T &getEmptyConstRefObject () {
 		static const T object;
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.cpp b/src/utils/utils.cpp
index c60a8141c..2c2216ef3 100644
--- a/src/utils/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/utils.cpp
@@ -187,19 +187,26 @@ long Utils::getTmAsTimeT (const tm &time) {
 
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+// TODO: Improve perf!!! Avoid c <--> cpp string conversions.
 string Utils::localeToUtf8 (const string &str) {
-	char *ret = bctbx_locale_to_utf8(str.c_str());
-	return string(ret != NULL ? ret : "");
+	char *cStr = bctbx_locale_to_utf8(str.c_str());
+	string utf8Str = cStringToCppString(cStr);
+	bctbx_free(cStr);
+	return utf8Str;
 }
 
 string Utils::utf8ToLocale (const string &str) {
-	char *ret = bctbx_utf8_to_locale(str.c_str());
-	return string(ret != NULL ? ret : "");
+	char *cStr = bctbx_utf8_to_locale(str.c_str());
+	string localeStr = cStringToCppString(cStr);
+	bctbx_free(cStr);
+	return localeStr;
 }
 
 string Utils::convertString (const string &str, const string &from, const string &to) {
-	char *ret = bctbx_convert_from_to(str.c_str(), from.c_str(), to.c_str());
-	return string(ret != NULL ? ret : "");
+	char *cStr = bctbx_convert_from_to(str.c_str(), from.c_str(), to.c_str());
+	string convertedStr = cStringToCppString(cStr);
+	bctbx_free(cStr);
+	return convertedStr;
 }
 
 LINPHONE_END_NAMESPACE