diff --git a/src/ProjectFileIO.cpp b/src/ProjectFileIO.cpp
index 5f0effadf..f16a65ea8 100644
--- a/src/ProjectFileIO.cpp
+++ b/src/ProjectFileIO.cpp
@@ -1755,7 +1755,7 @@ bool ProjectFileIO::LoadProject(const FilePath &fileName, bool ignoreAutosave)
       XMLFileReader xmlFile;
 
       // Load 'er up
-      success = xmlFile.ParseString(this, project.ToUTF8());
+      success = xmlFile.ParseString(this, project);
       if (!success)
       {
          SetError(
diff --git a/src/xml/XMLFileReader.cpp b/src/xml/XMLFileReader.cpp
index 0cb7fd695..db46db53e 100644
--- a/src/xml/XMLFileReader.cpp
+++ b/src/xml/XMLFileReader.cpp
@@ -135,8 +135,9 @@ bool XMLFileReader::Parse(XMLTagHandler *baseHandler,
 bool XMLFileReader::ParseString(XMLTagHandler *baseHandler,
                                 const wxString &xmldata)
 {
-   const char *buffer = xmldata.mb_str().data();
-   int len = xmldata.mbc_str().length();
+   auto utf8 = xmldata.ToUTF8();
+   const char *buffer = utf8.data();
+   int len = utf8.length();
 
    mBaseHandler = baseHandler;
 
@@ -156,6 +157,8 @@ bool XMLFileReader::ParseString(XMLTagHandler *baseHandler,
          (long unsigned int)XML_GetCurrentLineNumber(mParser)
       );
 
+      wxLogMessage(wxT("ParseString error: %s\n===begin===%s\n===end==="), mErrorStr.Debug(), buffer);
+
       return false;
    }