diff --git a/examples/C/get-ap-info-libnm-glib.c b/examples/C/get-ap-info-libnm-glib.c
index 6ff310d8218cd5aed46d330fee7c901c073efad3..316bce0e0dd415b87bbc4904c336bb687e246680 100644
--- a/examples/C/get-ap-info-libnm-glib.c
+++ b/examples/C/get-ap-info-libnm-glib.c
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ show_access_point_info (NMAccessPoint *ap)
 	strength = nm_access_point_get_strength (ap);
 
 	/* Convert to strings */
-	ssid_str = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 ((const char *) ssid->data, ssid->len);
+	ssid_str = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (ssid);
 	freq_str = g_strdup_printf ("%u MHz", freq);
 	bitrate_str = g_strdup_printf ("%u MB/s", bitrate/1000);
 	strength_str = g_strdup_printf ("%u", strength);
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ show_wifi_device_info (NMDevice *device)
 	if (nm_device_get_state (device) == NM_DEVICE_STATE_ACTIVATED) {
 		if ((active_ap = nm_device_wifi_get_active_access_point (NM_DEVICE_WIFI (device)))) {
 			active_ssid = nm_access_point_get_ssid (active_ap);
-			active_ssid_str = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 ((const char *) active_ssid->data, active_ssid->len);
+			active_ssid_str = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (active_ssid);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/libnm-util/nm-utils.c b/libnm-util/nm-utils.c
index 87c5d5f6e2a245253e4a828daf0a5372ce994caf..0e02a31ee698b26338cee6b1c6126b1fbc5d02f1 100644
--- a/libnm-util/nm-utils.c
+++ b/libnm-util/nm-utils.c
@@ -214,45 +214,6 @@ get_encodings_for_lang (const char *lang,
 	return success;
 }
 
-static char *
-string_to_utf8 (const char *str, gsize len)
-{
-	char *converted = NULL;
-	char *lang, *e1 = NULL, *e2 = NULL, *e3 = NULL;
-
-	g_return_val_if_fail (str != NULL, NULL);
-
-	if (g_utf8_validate (str, len, NULL))
-		return g_strdup (str);
-
-	/* LANG may be a good encoding hint */
-	g_get_charset ((const char **)(&e1));
-	if ((lang = getenv ("LANG"))) {
-		char * dot;
-
-		lang = g_ascii_strdown (lang, -1);
-		if ((dot = strchr (lang, '.')))
-			*dot = '\0';
-
-		get_encodings_for_lang (lang, &e1, &e2, &e3);
-		g_free (lang);
-	}
-
-	converted = g_convert (str, len, "UTF-8", e1, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-	if (!converted && e2)
-		converted = g_convert (str, len, "UTF-8", e2, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-
-	if (!converted && e3)
-		converted = g_convert (str, len, "UTF-8", e3, NULL, NULL, NULL);
-
-	if (!converted) {
-		converted = g_convert_with_fallback (str, len, "UTF-8", e1,
-	                "?", NULL, NULL, NULL);
-	}
-
-	return converted;
-}
-
 /* init, deinit for libnm_util */
 
 static gboolean initialized = FALSE;
@@ -304,8 +265,7 @@ nm_utils_deinit (void)
 
 /**
  * nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8:
- * @ssid: pointer to a buffer containing the SSID data
- * @len: length of the SSID data in @ssid
+ * @ssid: a byte array containing the SSID data
  *
  * WiFi SSIDs are byte arrays, they are _not_ strings.  Thus, an SSID may
  * contain embedded NULLs and other unprintable characters.  Often it is
@@ -330,23 +290,46 @@ nm_utils_deinit (void)
  * Again, this function should be used for debugging and display purposes
  * _only_.
  *
- * Returns: an allocated string containing a UTF-8 representation of the
- * SSID, which must be freed by the caller using g_free().  Returns NULL
- * on errors.
+ * Returns: (transfer full): an allocated string containing a UTF-8
+ * representation of the SSID, which must be freed by the caller using g_free().
+ * Returns NULL on errors.
  **/
 char *
-nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (const char *ssid, guint32 len)
+nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (const GByteArray *ssid)
 {
-	char *converted = NULL, *buf;
-	gsize buflen = MIN (IW_ESSID_MAX_SIZE, (gsize) len);
+	char *converted = NULL;
+	char *lang, *e1 = NULL, *e2 = NULL, *e3 = NULL;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (ssid != NULL, NULL);
 
-	/* New buffer to ensure NULL-termination of SSID */
-	buf = g_malloc0 (IW_ESSID_MAX_SIZE + 1);
-	memcpy (buf, ssid, buflen);
-	converted = string_to_utf8 (buf, buflen);
-	g_free (buf);
+	if (g_utf8_validate ((const gchar *) ssid->data, ssid->len, NULL))
+		return g_strndup ((const gchar *) ssid->data, ssid->len);
+
+	/* LANG may be a good encoding hint */
+	g_get_charset ((const char **)(&e1));
+	if ((lang = getenv ("LANG"))) {
+		char * dot;
+
+		lang = g_ascii_strdown (lang, -1);
+		if ((dot = strchr (lang, '.')))
+			*dot = '\0';
+
+		get_encodings_for_lang (lang, &e1, &e2, &e3);
+		g_free (lang);
+	}
+
+	converted = g_convert ((const gchar *) ssid->data, ssid->len, "UTF-8", e1, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+	if (!converted && e2)
+		converted = g_convert ((const gchar *) ssid->data, ssid->len, "UTF-8", e2, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
+	if (!converted && e3)
+		converted = g_convert ((const gchar *) ssid->data, ssid->len, "UTF-8", e3, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
+	if (!converted) {
+		converted = g_convert_with_fallback ((const gchar *) ssid->data, ssid->len,
+		                                     "UTF-8", e1, "?", NULL, NULL, NULL);
+	}
+
 	return converted;
 }
 
diff --git a/libnm-util/nm-utils.h b/libnm-util/nm-utils.h
index 6be91793eb9b4df29d13ff7b2bb642e5feb2e6a4..0be5d8bf886b49bcd7526e9e9d4f8c9630f31d6c 100644
--- a/libnm-util/nm-utils.h
+++ b/libnm-util/nm-utils.h
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ gboolean    nm_utils_same_ssid        (const GByteArray * ssid1,
 							    const GByteArray * ssid2,
 							    gboolean ignore_trailing_null);
 
-char *nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (const char *ssid, guint32 len);
+char *nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (const GByteArray *ssid);
 
 GHashTable *nm_utils_gvalue_hash_dup  (GHashTable *hash);
 
diff --git a/src/nm-device-wifi.c b/src/nm-device-wifi.c
index 35d2ebee4d4106667f405dc187cc6b9853f3a66c..c9eb620d698d8ac1af0417061fc10aac7ceaa42f 100644
--- a/src/nm-device-wifi.c
+++ b/src/nm-device-wifi.c
@@ -1468,7 +1468,7 @@ real_complete_connection (NMDevice *device,
 	}
 
 	g_assert (ssid);
-	str_ssid = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 ((const char *) ssid, ssid->len);
+	str_ssid = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (ssid);
 	format = g_strdup_printf ("%s %%d", str_ssid);
 
 	nm_utils_complete_generic (connection,
diff --git a/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/reader.c b/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/reader.c
index 7ac5e0c945bee61f9b51dba5827c2accdace266c..77fe63d1ffa378f0d9b52ec3d5e1a1b8e3a4e665 100644
--- a/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/reader.c
+++ b/src/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/reader.c
@@ -2907,7 +2907,7 @@ wireless_connection_from_ifcfg (const char *file,
 
 	ssid = nm_setting_wireless_get_ssid (NM_SETTING_WIRELESS (wireless_setting));
 	if (ssid)
-		printable_ssid = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 ((const char *) ssid->data, ssid->len);
+		printable_ssid = nm_utils_ssid_to_utf8 (ssid);
 	else
 		printable_ssid = g_strdup_printf ("unmanaged");