diff --git a/src/jnienv.cpp b/src/jnienv.cpp
index ccec728982..5f0d3a0a67 100644
--- a/src/jnienv.cpp
+++ b/src/jnienv.cpp
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ GetStringChars(Thread* t, jstring s, jboolean* isCopy)
 
   jchar* chars = static_cast<jchar*>
     (t->m->heap->allocate((stringLength(t, *s) + 1) * sizeof(jchar), false));
-  stringChars(t, *s, reinterpret_cast<wchar_t*>(chars));
+  stringChars(t, *s, chars);
 
   if (isCopy) *isCopy = true;
   return chars;
diff --git a/src/machine.cpp b/src/machine.cpp
index 8e3a8e2af9..ed53790c60 100644
--- a/src/machine.cpp
+++ b/src/machine.cpp
@@ -2154,7 +2154,7 @@ stringChars(Thread* t, object string, char* chars)
 }
 
 void
-stringChars(Thread* t, object string, wchar_t* chars)
+stringChars(Thread* t, object string, uint16_t* chars)
 {
   object data = stringData(t, string);
   if (objectClass(t, data)
@@ -2166,7 +2166,7 @@ stringChars(Thread* t, object string, wchar_t* chars)
   } else {
     memcpy(chars,
            &charArrayBody(t, data, stringOffset(t, string)),
-           stringLength(t, string) * sizeof(wchar_t));
+           stringLength(t, string) * sizeof(uint16_t));
   }
   chars[stringLength(t, string)] = 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/machine.h b/src/machine.h
index 74d753b9b2..2197de677e 100644
--- a/src/machine.h
+++ b/src/machine.h
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@ void
 stringChars(Thread* t, object string, char* chars);
 
 void
-stringChars(Thread* t, object string, wchar_t* chars);
+stringChars(Thread* t, object string, uint16_t* chars);
 
 bool
 isAssignableFrom(Thread* t, object a, object b);