diff --git a/Source/Additions/GSXML.m b/Source/Additions/GSXML.m
index 1a853c572..12abd2edc 100644
--- a/Source/Additions/GSXML.m
+++ b/Source/Additions/GSXML.m
@@ -1411,15 +1411,20 @@ static NSMapTable	*nodeNames = 0;
 - (NSString*) objectForKey: (NSString*)key
 {
   NSString	*value = nil;
+  const char    *str = 0;
   xmlAttrPtr	prop;
 
   prop = ((xmlNodePtr)(lib))->properties;
   while (prop != NULL)
     {
       const void	*name = prop->name;
-      NSString		*n = UTF8Str(name);
 
-      if ([key isEqualToString: n] == YES)
+      if (0 == str)
+        {
+          str = [key UTF8String];
+        }
+
+      if (strcmp(str, name) == 0)
         {
 	  xmlNodePtr	child = prop->children;
 
diff --git a/Source/GSString.m b/Source/GSString.m
index 8d8a1226a..54f19937a 100644
--- a/Source/GSString.m
+++ b/Source/GSString.m
@@ -1671,6 +1671,61 @@ fixBOM(unsigned char **bytes, NSUInteger*length, BOOL *owned,
   return (id)me;
 }
 
+- (id) initWithUTF8String: (const char*)bytes
+{
+  BOOL		ascii = YES;
+  NSUInteger    length;
+  GSStr		me;
+
+  if (0 == bytes)
+    {
+      return (id)@"";
+    }
+  /* Skip leading BOM
+   */
+  if (bytes[0] == 0xEF && bytes[1] == 0xBB && bytes[2] == 0xBF)
+    {
+      bytes = &bytes[3];
+    }
+  if (0 == bytes[0])
+    {
+      return (id)@"";
+    }
+
+  for (length = 0; bytes[length]; length++)
+    {
+      if (bytes[length] > 127)
+        {
+          ascii = NO;
+        }
+    }
+
+  if (YES == ascii)
+    {
+      me = (GSStr)newCInline(length, [self zone]);
+      memcpy(me->_contents.c, bytes, length);
+      return (id)me;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      const unsigned char       *b = (const unsigned char*)bytes;
+      NSZone                    *z = [self zone];
+      unichar	                *u = 0;
+      unsigned	                l = 0;
+
+      if (GSToUnicode(&u, &l, b, length, NSUTF8StringEncoding, z, 0) == NO)
+	{
+	  return nil;	// Invalid data
+	}
+      me = (GSStr)NSAllocateObject(GSUnicodeBufferStringClass, 0, z);
+      me->_contents.u = u;
+      me->_count = l;
+      me->_flags.wide = 1;
+      me->_flags.owned = YES;
+    }
+  return (id)me;
+}
+
 - (NSUInteger) length
 {
   [NSException raise: NSInternalInconsistencyException
diff --git a/Source/NSString.m b/Source/NSString.m
index e7634606d..cd63857a8 100644
--- a/Source/NSString.m
+++ b/Source/NSString.m
@@ -981,7 +981,14 @@ GSICUCollatorOpen(NSStringCompareOptions mask, NSLocale *locale)
   if (NULL == bytes)
     [NSException raise: NSInvalidArgumentException
 		format: @"[NSString+stringWithUTF8String:]: NULL cString"];
-  obj = [self allocWithZone: NSDefaultMallocZone()];
+  if (self == NSStringClass)
+    {
+      obj = defaultPlaceholderString;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      obj = [self allocWithZone: NSDefaultMallocZone()];
+    }
   obj = [obj initWithUTF8String: bytes];
   return AUTORELEASE(obj);
 }