diff --git a/borsh-ts/deserialize.ts b/borsh-ts/deserialize.ts
index 6a247c68..cf87b415 100644
--- a/borsh-ts/deserialize.ts
+++ b/borsh-ts/deserialize.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import { ArrayType, DecodeTypes, MapType, IntegerType, OptionType, Schema, SetType, StructType, integers, EnumType } from './types.js';
 import { DecodeBuffer } from './buffer.js';
 
+import * as utfUtil from 'util';
+
 export class BorshDeserializer {
     buffer: DecodeBuffer;
 
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ export class BorshDeserializer {
     decode_string(): string {
         const len: number = this.decode_integer('u32') as number;
         const buffer = new Uint8Array(this.buffer.consume_bytes(len));
-        return String.fromCharCode.apply(null, buffer);
+        return new utfUtil.TextDecoder().decode(buffer);
     }
 
     decode_boolean(): boolean {
diff --git a/borsh-ts/serialize.ts b/borsh-ts/serialize.ts
index fe7845ac..3b5b2ab8 100644
--- a/borsh-ts/serialize.ts
+++ b/borsh-ts/serialize.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { ArrayType, MapType, IntegerType, OptionType, Schema, SetType, StructTyp
 import { EncodeBuffer } from './buffer.js';
 import * as utils from './utils.js';
 
+import * as utfUtil from 'util';
+
 export class BorshSerializer {
     encoded: EncodeBuffer;
     fieldPath: string[];
@@ -61,15 +63,13 @@ export class BorshSerializer {
 
     encode_string(value: unknown): void {
         this.checkTypes && utils.expect_type(value, 'string', this.fieldPath);
-        const _value = value as string;
 
-        // 4 bytes for length
-        this.encoded.store_value(_value.length, 'u32');
+        // encode to utf8 bytes
+        const utf8Bytes = new utfUtil.TextEncoder().encode(value as string);
 
-        // string bytes
-        for (let i = 0; i < _value.length; i++) {
-            this.encoded.store_value(_value.charCodeAt(i), 'u8');
-        }
+        // 4 bytes for length + string bytes
+        this.encoded.store_value(utf8Bytes.length, 'u32');
+        this.encoded.store_bytes(utf8Bytes);
     }
 
     encode_boolean(value: unknown): void {
diff --git a/borsh-ts/test/(de)serialize.test.js b/borsh-ts/test/(de)serialize.test.js
index 59247260..42d171fa 100644
--- a/borsh-ts/test/(de)serialize.test.js
+++ b/borsh-ts/test/(de)serialize.test.js
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ test('serialize booleans', async () => {
 
 test('serialize strings', async () => {
     check_roundtrip('h"i', 'string', [3, 0, 0, 0, 104, 34, 105]);
+    check_roundtrip('Chévere', 'string', [8, 0, 0, 0, 67, 104, 195, 169, 118, 101, 114, 101]);
+    check_roundtrip('👍', 'string', [4, 0, 0, 0, 240, 159, 145, 141]);
+    check_roundtrip('óñ 漢', 'string', [8, 0, 0, 0, 195, 179, 195, 177, 32, 230, 188, 162]);
 });
 
 test('serialize floats', async () => {
diff --git a/lib/cjs/deserialize.js b/lib/cjs/deserialize.js
index cf6c248a..c3f0b297 100644
--- a/lib/cjs/deserialize.js
+++ b/lib/cjs/deserialize.js
@@ -1,8 +1,32 @@
 "use strict";
+var __createBinding = (this && this.__createBinding) || (Object.create ? (function(o, m, k, k2) {
+    if (k2 === undefined) k2 = k;
+    var desc = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(m, k);
+    if (!desc || ("get" in desc ? !m.__esModule : desc.writable || desc.configurable)) {
+      desc = { enumerable: true, get: function() { return m[k]; } };
+    }
+    Object.defineProperty(o, k2, desc);
+}) : (function(o, m, k, k2) {
+    if (k2 === undefined) k2 = k;
+    o[k2] = m[k];
+}));
+var __setModuleDefault = (this && this.__setModuleDefault) || (Object.create ? (function(o, v) {
+    Object.defineProperty(o, "default", { enumerable: true, value: v });
+}) : function(o, v) {
+    o["default"] = v;
+});
+var __importStar = (this && this.__importStar) || function (mod) {
+    if (mod && mod.__esModule) return mod;
+    var result = {};
+    if (mod != null) for (var k in mod) if (k !== "default" && Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(mod, k)) __createBinding(result, mod, k);
+    __setModuleDefault(result, mod);
+    return result;
+};
 exports.__esModule = true;
 exports.BorshDeserializer = void 0;
 var types_js_1 = require("./types.js");
 var buffer_js_1 = require("./buffer.js");
+var utfUtil = __importStar(require("util"));
 var BorshDeserializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     function BorshDeserializer(bufferArray) {
         this.buffer = new buffer_js_1.DecodeBuffer(bufferArray);
@@ -55,7 +79,7 @@ var BorshDeserializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     BorshDeserializer.prototype.decode_string = function () {
         var len = this.decode_integer('u32');
         var buffer = new Uint8Array(this.buffer.consume_bytes(len));
-        return String.fromCharCode.apply(null, buffer);
+        return new utfUtil.TextDecoder().decode(buffer);
     };
     BorshDeserializer.prototype.decode_boolean = function () {
         return this.buffer.consume_value('u8') > 0;
diff --git a/lib/cjs/serialize.js b/lib/cjs/serialize.js
index 2f47e1b8..15a9428d 100644
--- a/lib/cjs/serialize.js
+++ b/lib/cjs/serialize.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ exports.BorshSerializer = void 0;
 var types_js_1 = require("./types.js");
 var buffer_js_1 = require("./buffer.js");
 var utils = __importStar(require("./utils.js"));
+var utfUtil = __importStar(require("util"));
 var BorshSerializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     function BorshSerializer(checkTypes) {
         this.encoded = new buffer_js_1.EncodeBuffer();
@@ -83,13 +84,11 @@ var BorshSerializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     };
     BorshSerializer.prototype.encode_string = function (value) {
         this.checkTypes && utils.expect_type(value, 'string', this.fieldPath);
-        var _value = value;
-        // 4 bytes for length
-        this.encoded.store_value(_value.length, 'u32');
-        // string bytes
-        for (var i = 0; i < _value.length; i++) {
-            this.encoded.store_value(_value.charCodeAt(i), 'u8');
-        }
+        // encode to utf8 bytes
+        var utf8Bytes = new utfUtil.TextEncoder().encode(value);
+        // 4 bytes for length + string bytes
+        this.encoded.store_value(utf8Bytes.length, 'u32');
+        this.encoded.store_bytes(utf8Bytes);
     };
     BorshSerializer.prototype.encode_boolean = function (value) {
         this.checkTypes && utils.expect_type(value, 'boolean', this.fieldPath);
diff --git a/lib/esm/deserialize.js b/lib/esm/deserialize.js
index d1aff9af..818b8cad 100644
--- a/lib/esm/deserialize.js
+++ b/lib/esm/deserialize.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { integers } from './types.js';
 import { DecodeBuffer } from './buffer.js';
+import * as utfUtil from 'util';
 var BorshDeserializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     function BorshDeserializer(bufferArray) {
         this.buffer = new DecodeBuffer(bufferArray);
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ var BorshDeserializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     BorshDeserializer.prototype.decode_string = function () {
         var len = this.decode_integer('u32');
         var buffer = new Uint8Array(this.buffer.consume_bytes(len));
-        return String.fromCharCode.apply(null, buffer);
+        return new utfUtil.TextDecoder().decode(buffer);
     };
     BorshDeserializer.prototype.decode_boolean = function () {
         return this.buffer.consume_value('u8') > 0;
diff --git a/lib/esm/serialize.js b/lib/esm/serialize.js
index acfd8aee..c76d7549 100644
--- a/lib/esm/serialize.js
+++ b/lib/esm/serialize.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { integers } from './types.js';
 import { EncodeBuffer } from './buffer.js';
 import * as utils from './utils.js';
+import * as utfUtil from 'util';
 var BorshSerializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     function BorshSerializer(checkTypes) {
         this.encoded = new EncodeBuffer();
@@ -57,13 +58,11 @@ var BorshSerializer = /** @class */ (function () {
     };
     BorshSerializer.prototype.encode_string = function (value) {
         this.checkTypes && utils.expect_type(value, 'string', this.fieldPath);
-        var _value = value;
-        // 4 bytes for length
-        this.encoded.store_value(_value.length, 'u32');
-        // string bytes
-        for (var i = 0; i < _value.length; i++) {
-            this.encoded.store_value(_value.charCodeAt(i), 'u8');
-        }
+        // encode to utf8 bytes
+        var utf8Bytes = new utfUtil.TextEncoder().encode(value);
+        // 4 bytes for length + string bytes
+        this.encoded.store_value(utf8Bytes.length, 'u32');
+        this.encoded.store_bytes(utf8Bytes);
     };
     BorshSerializer.prototype.encode_boolean = function (value) {
         this.checkTypes && utils.expect_type(value, 'boolean', this.fieldPath);