diff --git a/desmume/src/frontend/windows/winutil.cpp b/desmume/src/frontend/windows/winutil.cpp
index dc04691fe..82088024d 100644
--- a/desmume/src/frontend/windows/winutil.cpp
+++ b/desmume/src/frontend/windows/winutil.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "path.h"
 #include "winutil.h"
+#include "utils/xstring.h"
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <windows.h>
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@
 
 char IniName[MAX_PATH];
 
-char* _hack_alternateModulePath;
+std::string _hack_alternateModulePathUtf8;
 
 
 static char vPath[MAX_PATH*2], *szPath;
@@ -53,14 +54,13 @@ void GetINIPath()
 
 			//use an alternate path
 			useModulePath = false;
-			static char userpath[MAX_PATH];
-			SHGetFolderPath(NULL,CSIDL_LOCAL_APPDATA,NULL,0,userpath);
-			_snprintf(vPath,MAX_PATH,"%s\\%s",userpath,"DeSmuME");
-			szPath = vPath;
-			_hack_alternateModulePath = szPath;
+			static wchar_t userpath[MAX_PATH];
+			SHGetFolderPathW(NULL,CSIDL_LOCAL_APPDATA,NULL,0,userpath);
+			std::wstring blah = (std::wstring)userpath + L"\\DeSmuME";
+			_hack_alternateModulePathUtf8 = wcstombs(blah);
 
 			//not so sure about this.. but lets go for it.
-			SetCurrentDirectory(userpath);
+			SetCurrentDirectoryW(blah.c_str());
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/desmume/src/path.cpp b/desmume/src/path.cpp
index 5e5e05310..8045f9ae7 100644
--- a/desmume/src/path.cpp
+++ b/desmume/src/path.cpp
@@ -193,18 +193,22 @@ void PathInfo::LoadModulePath()
 {
 #if defined(HOST_WINDOWS)
 
-	char *p;
+	wchar_t *p;
 	ZeroMemory(pathToModule, sizeof(pathToModule));
 
-	GetModuleFileName(NULL, pathToModule, sizeof(pathToModule));
-	p = pathToModule + lstrlen(pathToModule);
-	while (p >= pathToModule && *p != DIRECTORY_DELIMITER_CHAR) p--;
-	if (++p >= pathToModule) *p = 0;
+	wchar_t wPathToModule[MAX_PATH];
+	GetModuleFileNameW(NULL, wPathToModule, sizeof(wPathToModule));
+	p = wPathToModule + wcslen(wPathToModule);
+	while (p >= wPathToModule && *p != DIRECTORY_DELIMITER_CHAR) p--;
+	if (++p >= wPathToModule) *p = 0;
 
-	extern char* _hack_alternateModulePath;
-	if (_hack_alternateModulePath)
+	auto tmp = wcstombs(wPathToModule);
+	strcpy(pathToModule,tmp.c_str());
+
+	extern std::string _hack_alternateModulePathUtf8;
+	if (!_hack_alternateModulePathUtf8.empty())
 	{
-		strcpy(pathToModule, _hack_alternateModulePath);
+		strcpy(pathToModule, _hack_alternateModulePathUtf8.c_str());
 	}
 #elif defined(DESMUME_COCOA)
 	std::string pathStr = Path::GetFileDirectoryPath(path);