diff --git a/src/gpgmm/common/BUILD.gn b/src/gpgmm/common/BUILD.gn
index c1ee80ea5..8e439ce5b 100644
--- a/src/gpgmm/common/BUILD.gn
+++ b/src/gpgmm/common/BUILD.gn
@@ -168,7 +168,11 @@ if (is_win || is_linux || is_chromeos || is_mac || is_fuchsia || is_android) {
     ]
 
     if (is_win) {
-      sources += [ "WindowsTime.cpp" ]
+      sources += [
+        "WindowsTime.cpp",
+        "WindowsUtils.cpp",
+        "WindowsUtils.h",
+      ]
     }
 
     configs += [ ":gpgmm_common_config" ]
diff --git a/src/gpgmm/common/CMakeLists.txt b/src/gpgmm/common/CMakeLists.txt
index 0f2d4eb9f..442189a80 100644
--- a/src/gpgmm/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/gpgmm/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ target_sources(gpgmm_common PRIVATE
 if (WIN32)
     target_sources(gpgmm_common PRIVATE
         "WindowsTime.cpp"
+        "WindowsUtils.cpp"
+        "WindowsUtils.h"
     )
 endif()
 
diff --git a/src/gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.cpp b/src/gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..798716dd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The GPGMM Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include "WindowsUtils.h"
+
+#include "Assert.h"
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+
+#include <windows.h>  // must include before stringapiset.
+
+#include <stringapiset.h>
+
+namespace gpgmm {
+
+    std::wstring TCharToWString(const wchar_t* const str) {
+        return str;
+    }
+
+    std::wstring TCharToWString(const char* const str) {
+        std::string strFrom(str);
+        int requiredSize =
+            MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, &strFrom[0], static_cast<int>(strFrom.size()), NULL, 0);
+
+        std::wstring wstrTo(requiredSize, 0);
+        MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, &str[0], static_cast<int>(strFrom.size()), &wstrTo[0],
+                            requiredSize);
+        return wstrTo;
+    }
+
+    std::string WCharToUTF8(const wchar_t* str) {
+        int requiredSize = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, str, -1, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+        std::string result;
+        result.resize(requiredSize - 1);
+        WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, str, -1, &result[0], requiredSize, nullptr, nullptr);
+        return result;
+    }
+
+}  // namespace gpgmm
diff --git a/src/gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.h b/src/gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..99436dd5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// Copyright 2021 The GPGMM Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#ifndef GPGMM_COMMON_WINDOWSUTILS_H
+#define GPGMM_COMMON_WINDOWSUTILS_H
+
+#include <string>
+namespace gpgmm {
+
+    std::wstring TCharToWString(const wchar_t* const str);
+    std::wstring TCharToWString(const char* const str);
+
+    std::string WCharToUTF8(const wchar_t* str);
+
+}  // namespace gpgmm
+
+#endif  // GPGMM_COMMON_WINDOWSUTILS_H
diff --git a/src/gpgmm/d3d12/ErrorD3D12.cpp b/src/gpgmm/d3d12/ErrorD3D12.cpp
index f3b0ade90..0f7a92bed 100644
--- a/src/gpgmm/d3d12/ErrorD3D12.cpp
+++ b/src/gpgmm/d3d12/ErrorD3D12.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 
 #include "gpgmm/d3d12/ErrorD3D12.h"
 
+#include "gpgmm/common/WindowsUtils.h"
+
 #include <comdef.h>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <sstream>
@@ -21,8 +23,9 @@
 namespace gpgmm { namespace d3d12 {
 
     std::string GetErrorMessage(HRESULT error) {
+        std::wstring wstring = TCharToWString(_com_error(error).ErrorMessage());
         std::stringstream ss;
-        ss << _com_error(error).ErrorMessage() << " (0x" << std::hex << std::uppercase
+        ss << WCharToUTF8(wstring.c_str()) << " (0x" << std::hex << std::uppercase
            << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(8) << error << ")";
         return ss.str();
     }