diff --git a/src/utils/string_utils.cpp b/src/utils/string_utils.cpp
index 546bf2149..3ba36fa43 100644
--- a/src/utils/string_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/string_utils.cpp
@@ -698,7 +698,15 @@ namespace StringUtils
     }   // wideToUtf8
 
     // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    /** Converts the irrlicht wide string to an utf8-encoded std::string.
+     */
+    std::string wideToUtf8(const irr::core::stringw& input)
+    {
+        return wideToUtf8(input.c_str());
+    }   // wideToUtf8
 
+    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    /** Converts the irrlicht wide string to an utf8-encoded std::string. */
     irr::core::stringw utf8ToWide(const char* input)
     {
         static std::vector<wchar_t> utf16line;
@@ -710,6 +718,13 @@ namespace StringUtils
         return irr::core::stringw(&utf16line[0]);
     }   // utf8ToWide
 
+    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    /** Converts a utf8-encoded std::string into an irrlicht wide string. */
+    irr::core::stringw utf8ToWide(const std::string &input)
+    {
+        return utf8ToWide(input.c_str());
+    }   // utf8ToWide
+
     // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     /** Converts a version string (in the form of 'X.Y.Za-rcU' into an
      *  integer number.
diff --git a/src/utils/string_utils.hpp b/src/utils/string_utils.hpp
index f60f2e9c4..ca5b65d6d 100644
--- a/src/utils/string_utils.hpp
+++ b/src/utils/string_utils.hpp
@@ -227,19 +227,9 @@ namespace StringUtils
     // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
     irr::core::stringw utf8ToWide(const char* input);
+    irr::core::stringw utf8ToWide(const std::string &input);
     std::string wideToUtf8(const wchar_t* input);
-    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    /** Converts a utf8-encoded std::string into an irrlicht wide string. */
-    static irr::core::stringw utf8ToWide(const std::string &input)
-    {
-        return utf8ToWide(input.c_str());
-    }   // utf8ToWide
-    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-    /** Converts the irrlicht wide string to an utf8-encoded std::string. */
-    static std::string wideToUtf8(const irr::core::stringw& input)
-    {
-        return wideToUtf8(input.c_str());
-    }   // wideToUtf8
+    std::string wideToUtf8(const irr::core::stringw& input);
 
 } // namespace StringUtils