diff --git a/Common/Misc.cpp b/Common/Misc.cpp
index f5393cc1f9..5f80745b83 100644
--- a/Common/Misc.cpp
+++ b/Common/Misc.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 // Official SVN repository and contact information can be found at
 // http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/
 
+#include "util/text/utf8.h"
 #include "Common.h"
 
 #include <string.h>
@@ -44,14 +45,17 @@ const char *GetLastErrorMsg()
 }
 
 const char *GetStringErrorMsg(int errCode) {
-	static const size_t buff_size = 255;
+	static const size_t buff_size = 1023;
 #ifndef _XBOX
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	static __declspec(thread) char err_str[buff_size] = {};
+	static __declspec(thread) wchar_t err_strw[buff_size] = {};
 
-	FormatMessageA(FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS, NULL, errCode,
+	FormatMessageW(FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS, NULL, errCode,
 		MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT),
-		err_str, buff_size, NULL);
+		err_strw, buff_size, NULL);
+
+	static __declspec(thread) char err_str[buff_size] = {};
+	snprintf(err_str, buff_size, ConvertWStringToUTF8(err_strw).c_str());
 #else
 	static __thread char err_str[buff_size] = {};