diff --git a/snap.cabal b/snap.cabal
index 0f4316e7..b7f43c5e 100644
--- a/snap.cabal
+++ b/snap.cabal
@@ -167,7 +167,6 @@ Library
     time                      >= 1.1      && < 1.5,
     transformers              >= 0.2      && < 0.4,
     unordered-containers      >= 0.1.4    && < 0.3,
-    utf8-string               >= 0.3      && < 0.4,
     vector                    >= 0.7.1    && < 0.11,
     vector-algorithms         >= 0.4      && < 0.6,
     xmlhtml                   >= 0.1      && < 0.3
diff --git a/src/Snap/Snaplet/HeistNoClass.hs b/src/Snap/Snaplet/HeistNoClass.hs
index 68a1c565..f031d302 100644
--- a/src/Snap/Snaplet/HeistNoClass.hs
+++ b/src/Snap/Snaplet/HeistNoClass.hs
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ import           Control.Monad.Reader
 import           Control.Monad.State
 import           Data.ByteString (ByteString)
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as B
-import qualified Data.ByteString.UTF8 as U
 import           Data.Maybe
 import           Data.Monoid
 import           Data.Lens.Lazy
 import           Data.Text (Text)
 import qualified Data.Text as T
+import           Data.Text.Encoding
 import           System.FilePath.Posix
 import           Text.Templating.Heist
 import           Text.Templating.Heist.Splices.Cache
@@ -296,7 +296,8 @@ addTemplatesAt urlPrefix templateDir = do
     ts <- liftIO $ loadTemplates templateDir mempty
                    >>= either error return
     rootUrl <- getSnapletRootURL
-    let fullPrefix = U.toString rootUrl </> U.toString urlPrefix
+    let fullPrefix = (T.unpack $ decodeUtf8 rootUrl) </>
+                     (T.unpack $ decodeUtf8 urlPrefix)
     printInfo $ T.pack $ unwords
         [ "...adding"
         , (show $ length $ templateNames ts)
@@ -306,7 +307,7 @@ addTemplatesAt urlPrefix templateDir = do
         , fullPrefix ++ "/"
         ]
     addPostInitHook $ return . changeTS
-        (`mappend` addTemplatePathPrefix (U.fromString fullPrefix) ts)
+        (`mappend` addTemplatePathPrefix (encodeUtf8 $ T.pack fullPrefix) ts)
 
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/test/snap-testsuite.cabal b/test/snap-testsuite.cabal
index 42b02cc0..6084d074 100644
--- a/test/snap-testsuite.cabal
+++ b/test/snap-testsuite.cabal
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ Executable snap-testsuite
     text                       >= 0.11     && < 0.12,
     transformers               >= 0.2,
     unix                       >= 2.2.0.0  && < 2.7,
-    utf8-string                >= 0.3      && < 0.4,
     template-haskell
 
   extensions:
@@ -90,7 +89,6 @@ Executable app
     text                       >= 0.11    && < 0.12,
     transformers               >= 0.2,
     unordered-containers       >= 0.1.4,
-    utf8-string                >= 0.3     && < 0.4,
     template-haskell
     --FIXME
 
@@ -138,7 +136,6 @@ Executable nesttest
     snap-server                >= 0.9   && < 0.10,
     text                       >= 0.11  && < 0.12,
     transformers               >= 0.2,
-    utf8-string                >= 0.3   && < 0.4,
     template-haskell
 
   extensions: