diff --git a/CodeGen.hs b/CodeGen.hs
index 75f1e609..632c2a7c 100644
--- a/CodeGen.hs
+++ b/CodeGen.hs
@@ -5,14 +5,16 @@ module CodeGen (codegen) where
 
 import Language.Haskell.TH.Syntax
 import Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec
-import qualified System.IO.UTF8 as U
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as L
+import qualified Data.Text.Lazy as LT
+import qualified Data.Text.Lazy.Encoding as LT
 
 data Token = VarToken String | LitToken String | EmptyToken
 
 codegen :: FilePath -> Q Exp
 codegen fp = do
-    s' <- qRunIO $ U.readFile $ "scaffold/" ++ fp ++ ".cg"
-    let s = init s'
+    s' <- qRunIO $ L.readFile $ "scaffold/" ++ fp ++ ".cg"
+    let s = init $ LT.unpack $ LT.decodeUtf8 s'
     case parse (many parseToken) s s of
         Left e -> error $ show e
         Right tokens' -> do
diff --git a/Yesod/Content.hs b/Yesod/Content.hs
index 75e22d0f..f8af3092 100644
--- a/Yesod/Content.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Content.hs
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ import System.Locale
 
 import qualified Data.Text.Encoding
 import qualified Data.Text.Lazy.Encoding
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8
 
 #if TEST
 import Test.Framework (testGroup, Test)
@@ -94,7 +93,7 @@ instance ToContent T.Text where
 instance ToContent Text where
     toContent = W.ResponseLBS . Data.Text.Lazy.Encoding.encodeUtf8
 instance ToContent String where
-    toContent = W.ResponseLBS . Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8.fromString
+    toContent = toContent . T.pack
 
 -- | A function which gives targetted representations of content based on the
 -- content-types the user accepts.
diff --git a/Yesod/Dispatch.hs b/Yesod/Dispatch.hs
index 70e514f5..a9105261 100644
--- a/Yesod/Dispatch.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Dispatch.hs
@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ import System.Environment (getEnvironment)
 
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as B
 
-import qualified Data.ByteString.UTF8 as S
-
 import Control.Concurrent.MVar
 import Control.Arrow ((***))
 
@@ -268,10 +266,10 @@ toWaiApp' y segments env = do
     (s, hs, ct, c, sessionFinal) <- unYesodApp ya eh rr types
     let sessionVal = encodeSession key' exp' host sessionFinal
     let hs' = AddCookie (clientSessionDuration y) sessionName
-                                                  (S.toString sessionVal)
+                                                  (bsToChars sessionVal)
             : hs
         hs'' = map (headerToPair getExpires) hs'
-        hs''' = ("Content-Type", S.fromString ct) : hs''
+        hs''' = ("Content-Type", charsToBs ct) : hs''
     return $ W.Response s hs''' c
 
 httpAccept :: W.Request -> [ContentType]
@@ -313,13 +311,13 @@ parseWaiRequest :: W.Request
                 -> [(String, String)] -- ^ session
                 -> IO Request
 parseWaiRequest env session' = do
-    let gets' = map (S.toString *** S.toString)
+    let gets' = map (bsToChars *** bsToChars)
               $ parseQueryString $ W.queryString env
     let reqCookie = fromMaybe B.empty $ lookup "Cookie"
                   $ W.requestHeaders env
-        cookies' = map (S.toString *** S.toString) $ parseCookies reqCookie
+        cookies' = map (bsToChars *** bsToChars) $ parseCookies reqCookie
         acceptLang = lookup "Accept-Language" $ W.requestHeaders env
-        langs = map S.toString $ maybe [] parseHttpAccept acceptLang
+        langs = map bsToChars $ maybe [] parseHttpAccept acceptLang
         langs' = case lookup langKey session' of
                     Nothing -> langs
                     Just x -> x : langs
@@ -334,9 +332,9 @@ parseWaiRequest env session' = do
 
 rbHelper :: W.Request -> IO RequestBodyContents
 rbHelper = fmap (fix1 *** map fix2) . parseRequestBody lbsSink where
-    fix1 = map (S.toString *** S.toString)
+    fix1 = map (bsToChars *** bsToChars)
     fix2 (x, NWP.FileInfo a b c) =
-        (S.toString x, FileInfo (S.toString a) (S.toString b) c)
+        (bsToChars x, FileInfo (bsToChars a) (bsToChars b) c)
 
 -- | Produces a \"compute on demand\" value. The computation will be run once
 -- it is requested, and then the result will be stored. This will happen only
@@ -357,14 +355,14 @@ headerToPair :: (Int -> UTCTime) -- ^ minutes -> expiration time
              -> (W.ResponseHeader, B.ByteString)
 headerToPair getExpires (AddCookie minutes key value) =
     let expires = getExpires minutes
-     in ("Set-Cookie", S.fromString
+     in ("Set-Cookie", charsToBs
                             $ key ++ "=" ++ value ++"; path=/; expires="
                               ++ formatW3 expires)
 headerToPair _ (DeleteCookie key) =
-    ("Set-Cookie", S.fromString $
+    ("Set-Cookie", charsToBs $
      key ++ "=; path=/; expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:00 GMT")
 headerToPair _ (Header key value) =
-    (fromString key, S.fromString value)
+    (fromString key, charsToBs value)
 
 encodeSession :: CS.Key
               -> UTCTime -- ^ expire time
diff --git a/Yesod/Form/Nic.hs b/Yesod/Form/Nic.hs
index fa83ffdd..e8a5bc91 100644
--- a/Yesod/Form/Nic.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Form/Nic.hs
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ import Yesod.Handler
 import Yesod.Form.Core
 import Yesod.Hamlet
 import Yesod.Widget
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8 as U
 import Text.HTML.SanitizeXSS (sanitizeXSS)
 
+import Yesod.Internal (lbsToChars)
+
 class YesodNic a where
     -- | NIC Editor.
     urlNicEdit :: a -> Either (Route a) String
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ maybeNicHtmlField = optionalFieldHelper nicHtmlFieldProfile
 nicHtmlFieldProfile :: YesodNic y => FieldProfile sub y Html
 nicHtmlFieldProfile = FieldProfile
     { fpParse = Right . preEscapedString . sanitizeXSS
-    , fpRender = U.toString . renderHtml
+    , fpRender = lbsToChars . renderHtml
     , fpWidget = \theId name val _isReq -> do
         addBody [$hamlet|%textarea.html#$theId$!name=$name$ $val$|]
         addScript' urlNicEdit
diff --git a/Yesod/Form/Profiles.hs b/Yesod/Form/Profiles.hs
index 7762ed35..029260bb 100644
--- a/Yesod/Form/Profiles.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Form/Profiles.hs
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import Yesod.Form.Core
 import Yesod.Widget
 import Text.Hamlet
 import Data.Time (Day, TimeOfDay(..))
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8 as U
 import qualified Text.Email.Validate as Email
 import Network.URI (parseURI)
 import Database.Persist (PersistField)
@@ -30,6 +29,8 @@ import Text.HTML.SanitizeXSS (sanitizeXSS)
 import Text.Blaze.Builder.Utf8 (writeChar)
 import Text.Blaze.Builder.Core (writeList, writeByteString)
 
+import Yesod.Internal (lbsToChars)
+
 intFieldProfile :: Integral i => FieldProfile sub y i
 intFieldProfile = FieldProfile
     { fpParse = maybe (Left "Invalid integer") Right . readMayI
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ timeFieldProfile = FieldProfile
 htmlFieldProfile :: FieldProfile sub y Html
 htmlFieldProfile = FieldProfile
     { fpParse = Right . preEscapedString . sanitizeXSS
-    , fpRender = U.toString . renderHtml
+    , fpRender = lbsToChars . renderHtml
     , fpWidget = \theId name val _isReq -> addBody [$hamlet|
 %textarea.html#$theId$!name=$name$ $val$
 |]
diff --git a/Yesod/Handler.hs b/Yesod/Handler.hs
index cf15f133..08fa6341 100644
--- a/Yesod/Handler.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Handler.hs
@@ -98,8 +98,6 @@ import Control.Monad.Trans.Reader
 import System.IO
 import qualified Network.Wai as W
 import Control.Failure (Failure (failure))
-import Data.ByteString.UTF8 (toString)
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.UTF8 as L
 
 import Text.Hamlet
 
@@ -362,7 +360,7 @@ msgKey = "_MSG"
 --
 -- See 'getMessage'.
 setMessage :: Html -> GHandler sub master ()
-setMessage = setSession msgKey . L.toString . renderHtml
+setMessage = setSession msgKey . lbsToChars . renderHtml
 
 -- | Gets the message in the user's session, if available, and then clears the
 -- variable.
@@ -392,7 +390,7 @@ notFound = failure NotFound
 badMethod :: (RequestReader m, Failure ErrorResponse m) => m a
 badMethod = do
     w <- waiRequest
-    failure $ BadMethod $ toString $ W.requestMethod w
+    failure $ BadMethod $ bsToChars $ W.requestMethod w
 
 -- | Return a 403 permission denied page.
 permissionDenied :: Failure ErrorResponse m => String -> m a
diff --git a/Yesod/Internal.hs b/Yesod/Internal.hs
index ef66e3f5..97ddbfe3 100644
--- a/Yesod/Internal.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Internal.hs
@@ -19,12 +19,26 @@ module Yesod.Internal
     , locationToHamlet
     , runUniqueList
     , toUnique
+      -- * UTF8 helpers
+    , bsToChars
+    , lbsToChars
+    , charsToBs
     ) where
 
 import Text.Hamlet (Hamlet, hamlet, Html)
 import Data.Monoid (Monoid (..))
 import Data.List (nub)
 
+import qualified Data.ByteString as S
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as L
+
+import qualified Data.Text as T
+import qualified Data.Text.Encoding as T
+import qualified Data.Text.Encoding.Error as T
+
+import qualified Data.Text.Lazy as LT
+import qualified Data.Text.Lazy.Encoding as LT
+
 -- | Responses to indicate some form of an error occurred. These are different
 -- from 'SpecialResponse' in that they allow for custom error pages.
 data ErrorResponse =
@@ -71,3 +85,12 @@ newtype Head url = Head (Hamlet url)
     deriving Monoid
 newtype Body url = Body (Hamlet url)
     deriving Monoid
+
+lbsToChars :: L.ByteString -> String
+lbsToChars = LT.unpack . LT.decodeUtf8With T.lenientDecode
+
+bsToChars :: S.ByteString -> String
+bsToChars = T.unpack . T.decodeUtf8With T.lenientDecode
+
+charsToBs :: String -> S.ByteString
+charsToBs = T.encodeUtf8 . T.pack
diff --git a/Yesod/Yesod.hs b/Yesod/Yesod.hs
index 5762e6d1..0170ea95 100644
--- a/Yesod/Yesod.hs
+++ b/Yesod/Yesod.hs
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ import qualified Network.Wai as W
 import Yesod.Internal
 import Web.ClientSession (getKey, defaultKeyFile)
 import qualified Web.ClientSession as CS
-import qualified Data.ByteString.UTF8 as BSU
 import Database.Persist
 import Control.Monad.Trans.Class (MonadTrans (..))
 import Control.Failure (Failure)
@@ -262,7 +261,7 @@ applyLayout' title body = fmap chooseRep $ defaultLayout $ do
 defaultErrorHandler :: Yesod y => ErrorResponse -> GHandler sub y ChooseRep
 defaultErrorHandler NotFound = do
     r <- waiRequest
-    let path' = BSU.toString $ pathInfo r
+    let path' = bsToChars $ pathInfo r
     applyLayout' "Not Found" $ [$hamlet|
 %h1 Not Found
 %p $path'$
diff --git a/scaffold.hs b/scaffold.hs
index a1d68b6a..36f6deed 100644
--- a/scaffold.hs
+++ b/scaffold.hs
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as S
 import Language.Haskell.TH.Syntax
 import Data.Time (getCurrentTime, utctDay, toGregorian)
 import Control.Applicative ((<$>))
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as L
+import qualified Data.Text.Lazy as LT
+import qualified Data.Text.Lazy.Encoding as LT
 
 main :: IO ()
 main = do
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ main = do
 
     let writeFile' fp s = do
             putStrLn $ "Generating " ++ fp
-            writeFile (dir ++ '/' : fp) s
+            L.writeFile (dir ++ '/' : fp) $ LT.encodeUtf8 $ LT.pack s
         mkDir fp = createDirectoryIfMissing True $ dir ++ '/' : fp
 
     mkDir "Handler"
diff --git a/yesod.cabal b/yesod.cabal
index 0f6f3228..7dec6e7a 100644
--- a/yesod.cabal
+++ b/yesod.cabal
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ library
                    , bytestring                >= 0.9.1.4  && < 0.10
                    , directory                 >= 1        && < 1.2
                    , text                      >= 0.5      && < 0.10
-                   , utf8-string               >= 0.3.4    && < 0.4
                    , template-haskell          >= 2.4      && < 2.6
                    , web-routes-quasi          >= 0.6      && < 0.7
                    , hamlet                    >= 0.5.1    && < 0.6