diff --git a/src/Framework.cpp b/src/Framework.cpp
index 696c7bbbe..da1d50381 100644
--- a/src/Framework.cpp
+++ b/src/Framework.cpp
@@ -1002,7 +1002,8 @@ void Framework::save_config() {
         mod->on_config_save(cfg);
     }
 
-    if (!cfg.save(get_persistent_dir("config.txt").string())) {
+    auto path_u8 = get_persistent_dir("config.txt").u8string();
+    if (!cfg.save(std::string(path_u8.begin(), path_u8.end()))) {
         spdlog::info("Failed to save config");
         return;
     }
diff --git a/src/Mods.cpp b/src/Mods.cpp
index d5d546a4b..fd3c0e6e0 100644
--- a/src/Mods.cpp
+++ b/src/Mods.cpp
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ std::optional<std::string> Mods::on_initialize_d3d_thread() const {
 }
 
 void Mods::reload_config(bool set_defaults) const {
-    utility::Config cfg{ Framework::get_persistent_dir("config.txt").string() };
+    auto path_u8 = Framework::get_persistent_dir("config.txt").u8string();
+    utility::Config cfg{ std::string(path_u8.begin(), path_u8.end()) };
 
     for (auto& mod : m_mods) {
         spdlog::info("{:s}::on_config_load()", mod->get_name().data());