diff --git a/src/insets/InsetHyperlink.cpp b/src/insets/InsetHyperlink.cpp
index 6bf31aa36c..31737ec147 100644
--- a/src/insets/InsetHyperlink.cpp
+++ b/src/insets/InsetHyperlink.cpp
@@ -33,10 +33,10 @@ using std::find;
 using std::replace;
 
 //FIXME: these should be lists of char_type and not char
-static char const * const chars_url[2] = {"%", "#"};
+static char_type const chars_url[2] = {'%', '#'};
 
-static char const * const chars_name[6] = {
-	"&", "_", "$", "%", "#", "^"};
+static char_type const chars_name[6] = {
+	'&', '_', '$', '%', '#', '^'};
 
 
 InsetHyperlink::InsetHyperlink(InsetCommandParams const & p)
@@ -77,10 +77,10 @@ int InsetHyperlink::latex(Buffer const &, odocstream & os,
 		    OutputParams const & runparams) const
 {
 	//FIXME: all strings in this routine should be docstrings
-	string url = to_utf8(getParam("target"));
+	docstring url = getParam("target");
 
-	string backslash = "\\";
-	string braces = "{}";
+	docstring backslash = from_ascii("\\");
+	docstring braces = from_ascii("{}");
 
 	// The characters in chars_url[] need to be changed to a command when
 	// they are in the url field.
@@ -90,12 +90,12 @@ int InsetHyperlink::latex(Buffer const &, odocstream & os,
 			for (size_t i = 0, pos;
 				(pos = url.find(chars_url[k], i)) != string::npos;
 				i = pos + 2) {
-				url.replace(pos,1,backslash + chars_url[k]);
+				url.replace(pos, 1, backslash + chars_url[k]);
 			}
 		}
 	} // end if (!url.empty())
 
-	string name = to_utf8(getParam("name"));
+	docstring name = getParam("name");
 
 	// The characters in chars_name[] need to be changed to a command when
 	// they are in the name field.
@@ -103,40 +103,42 @@ int InsetHyperlink::latex(Buffer const &, odocstream & os,
 
 		// handle the "\" character, but only when the following character
 		// is not also a "\", because "\\" is valid code
+		docstring textbackslash = from_ascii("\\textbackslash{}");
 		for (size_t i = 0, pos;
-			(pos = name.find("\\", i)) != string::npos;
+			(pos = name.find('\\', i)) != string::npos;
 			i = pos + 2) {
-			if	(name[pos+1] != '\\')
-				name.replace(pos,1,"\\textbackslash{}");
+			if	(name[pos + 1] != '\\')
+				name.replace(pos, 1, textbackslash);
 		}
 		for (int k = 0;	k < 6; k++) {
 			for (size_t i = 0, pos;
 				(pos = name.find(chars_name[k], i)) != string::npos;
 				i = pos + 2) {
-				name.replace(pos,1,backslash + chars_name[k] + braces);
+				name.replace(pos, 1, backslash + chars_name[k] + braces);
 			}
 		}
 		// replace the tilde by the \sim character as suggested in the LaTeX FAQ
 		// for URLs
+		docstring sim = from_ascii("$\\sim$");
 		for (int i = 0, pos;
-			(pos = name.find("~", i)) != string::npos;
+			(pos = name.find('~', i)) != string::npos;
 			i = pos + 1)
-			name.replace(pos,1,"$\\sim$");
+			name.replace(pos, 1, sim);
 
 	}  // end if (!name.empty())
 	
 	//for the case there is no name given, the target is set as name
-	string urlname = url;
+	docstring urlname = url;
 	// set the hyperlink type
-	url = to_utf8(getParam("type")) + url;
+	url += getParam("type");
 
 	if (runparams.moving_arg)
 		os << "\\protect";
 	//set the target for the name when no name is given
 	if (!name.empty())
-		os << "\\href{" << from_utf8(url) << "}{" << from_utf8(name) << '}';
+		os << "\\href{" << url << "}{" << name << '}';
 	else
-		os << "\\href{" << from_utf8(url) << "}{" << from_utf8(urlname) << '}';
+		os << "\\href{" << url << "}{" << urlname << '}';
 	return 0;
 }