diff --git a/src/clj_http/client.clj b/src/clj_http/client.clj
index 8e9b97f1..7915a0f3 100644
--- a/src/clj_http/client.clj
+++ b/src/clj_http/client.clj
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 (defn wrap-input-coercion [client]
   (fn [{:keys [body] :as req}]
     (if (string? body)
-      (client (-> req (assoc :body (.getBytes body "UTF-8")
+      (client (-> req (assoc :body (util/utf8-bytes body)
                              :character-encoding "UTF-8")))
       (client req))))
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
 
 (defn basic-auth-value [user password]
   (str "Basic "
-       (util/base64-encode (.getBytes (str user ":" password) "UTF-8"))))
+       (util/base64-encode (util/utf8-bytes (str user ":" password)))))
 
 (defn wrap-basic-auth [client]
   (fn [req]
diff --git a/src/clj_http/util.clj b/src/clj_http/util.clj
index 2e77e7d5..dbf60f27 100644
--- a/src/clj_http/util.clj
+++ b/src/clj_http/util.clj
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
                           GZIPInputStream GZIPOutputStream))
   (:import (org.apache.commons.io IOUtils)))
 
+(defn utf8-bytes [#^String s]
+  (.getBytes s "UTF-8"))
+
+(defn utf8-string [b]
+  (String. b "UTF-8"))
+
 (defn url-encode
   "Returns an UTF-8 URL encoded version of the given string."
   [unencoded]
@@ -15,7 +21,7 @@
 (defn base64-encode
   "Encode an array of bytes into a base64 encoded string."
   [unencoded]
-  (String. (Base64/encodeBase64 unencoded)))
+  (utf8-string (Base64/encodeBase64 unencoded)))
 
 (defn gunzip
   "Returns a gunzip'd version of the given byte array."
diff --git a/test/clj_http/client_test.clj b/test/clj_http/client_test.clj
index e1f2f73d..5915cc04 100644
--- a/test/clj_http/client_test.clj
+++ b/test/clj_http/client_test.clj
@@ -75,18 +75,18 @@
 
 
 (deftest apply-on-compressed
-  (let [client (fn [req] {:body (util/gzip (.getBytes "foofoofoo" "UTF-8"))
+  (let [client (fn [req] {:body (util/gzip (util/utf8-bytes "foofoofoo"))
                           :headers {"Content-Encoding" "gzip"}})
         c-client (client/wrap-decompression client)
         resp (c-client {})]
-    (is (= "foofoofoo" (String. (:body resp) "UTF-8")))))
+    (is (= "foofoofoo" (util/utf8-string (:body resp))))))
 
 (deftest apply-on-deflated
-  (let [client (fn [req] {:body (util/deflate (.getBytes "barbarbar" "UTF-8"))
+  (let [client (fn [req] {:body (util/deflate (util/utf8-bytes "barbarbar"))
                           :headers {"Content-Encoding" "deflate"}})
         c-client (client/wrap-decompression client)
         resp (c-client {})]
-    (is (= "barbarbar" (String. (:body resp) "UTF-8")))))
+    (is (= "barbarbar" (util/utf8-string (:body resp))))))
 
 (deftest pass-on-non-compressed
   (let [c-client (client/wrap-decompression (fn [req] {:body "foo"}))
@@ -115,6 +115,12 @@
 
 
 (deftest apply-on-output-coercion
+  (let [client (fn [req] {:body (util/utf8-bytes "foo")})
+        o-client (client/wrap-output-coercion client)
+        resp (o-client {:uri "/foo"})]
+    (is (= "foo" (:body resp)))))
+
+(deftest pass-on-no-output-coercion
   (let [client (fn [req] {:body nil})
         o-client (client/wrap-output-coercion client)
         resp (o-client {:uri "/foo"})]
@@ -124,22 +130,16 @@
         resp (o-client {:uri "/foo" :as :bytes})]
     (is (= :thebytes (:body resp)))))
 
-(deftest pass-on-no-output-coercion
-  (let [client (fn [req] {:body (.getBytes "foo" "UTF-8")})
-        o-client (client/wrap-output-coercion client)
-        resp (o-client {:uri "/foo"})]
-    (is (= "foo" (:body resp)))))
-
 
 (deftest apply-on-input-coercion
   (let [i-client (client/wrap-input-coercion identity)
         resp (i-client {:body "foo"})]
     (is (= "UTF-8" (:character-encoding resp)))
-    (is (Arrays/equals (.getBytes "foo" "UTF-8") (:body resp)))))
+    (is (Arrays/equals (util/utf8-bytes "foo") (:body resp)))))
 
 (deftest pass-on-no-input-coercion
   (is-passed client/wrap-input-coercion
-    {:body (.getBytes "foo" "UTF-8")}))
+    {:body (util/utf8-bytes "foo")}))
 
 
 (deftest apply-on-content-type
diff --git a/test/clj_http/core_test.clj b/test/clj_http/core_test.clj
index 3426b9f2..2e77f0c1 100644
--- a/test/clj_http/core_test.clj
+++ b/test/clj_http/core_test.clj
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
   (:use clojure.test)
   (:require [clojure.contrib.pprint :as pp])
   (:require [clojure.contrib.io :as io])
-  (:require [clj-http.core :as core]))
+  (:require [clj-http.core :as core])
+  (:require [clj-http.util :as util]))
 
 (defn handler [req]
   (pp/pprint req)
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@
 
 (deftest sends-and-returns-byte-array-body
   (let [resp (request {:request-method :post :uri "/post"
-                       :body (.getBytes "contents" "UTF-8")})]
+                       :body (util/utf8-bytes "contents")})]
     (is (= 200 (:status resp)))
     (is (= "contents\n" (slurp-body resp)))))