diff --git a/src/api/game/load_order_handler.cpp b/src/api/game/load_order_handler.cpp
index 8d484837..03a62b29 100644
--- a/src/api/game/load_order_handler.cpp
+++ b/src/api/game/load_order_handler.cpp
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ void LoadOrderHandler::Init(const GameType& gameType,
   }
 
   const char* gameLocalDataPath = nullptr;
-  string tempPathString = gameLocalAppData.string();
+  string tempPathString = gameLocalAppData.u8string();
   if (!tempPathString.empty())
     gameLocalDataPath = tempPathString.c_str();
 
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ void LoadOrderHandler::Init(const GameType& gameType,
   }
 
   int ret = lo_create_handle(
-    &gh_, mapGameId(gameType), gamePath.string().c_str(), gameLocalDataPath);
+    &gh_, mapGameId(gameType), gamePath.u8string().c_str(), gameLocalDataPath);
 
   HandleError("create a game handle", ret);
 }
diff --git a/src/api/helpers/git_helper.cpp b/src/api/helpers/git_helper.cpp
index 1e0524a7..c29d72f0 100644
--- a/src/api/helpers/git_helper.cpp
+++ b/src/api/helpers/git_helper.cpp
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ void GitHelper::Open(const std::filesystem::path& repoRoot) {
     logger_->info("Attempting to open Git repository at: {}",
                   repoRoot.string());
   }
-  Call(git_repository_open(&data_.repo, repoRoot.string().c_str()));
+  Call(git_repository_open(&data_.repo, repoRoot.u8string().c_str()));
 }
 
 void GitHelper::SetRemoteUrl(const std::string& remote,
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ void GitHelper::Call(int error_code) {
 
 bool GitHelper::IsRepository(const std::filesystem::path& path) {
   return git_repository_open_ext(NULL,
-                                 path.string().c_str(),
+                                 path.u8string().c_str(),
                                  GIT_REPOSITORY_OPEN_NO_SEARCH,
                                  NULL) == 0;
 }
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ void GitHelper::Clone(const std::filesystem::path& path,
   // Perform the clone.
   Call(git_clone(&data_.repo,
                  url.c_str(),
-                 repoPath.string().c_str(),
+                 repoPath.u8string().c_str(),
                  &data_.clone_options));
 
   // If repo was cloned into a temporary directory, move it into the target
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ bool GitHelper::IsFileDifferent(const std::filesystem::path& repoRoot,
     logger->trace("Existing repository found, attempting to open it.");
   }
   GitHelper git;
-  git.Call(git_repository_open(&git.data_.repo, repoRoot.string().c_str()));
+  git.Call(git_repository_open(&git.data_.repo, repoRoot.u8string().c_str()));
 
   // Perform a git diff, then iterate the deltas to see if one exists for the
   // masterlist.
diff --git a/src/api/plugin.cpp b/src/api/plugin.cpp
index 98d33bdd..ea8c8218 100644
--- a/src/api/plugin.cpp
+++ b/src/api/plugin.cpp
@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ Plugin::Plugin(const GameType gameType,
     std::filesystem::path filepath = dataPath / name_;
 
     // In case the plugin is ghosted.
-    if (!std::filesystem::exists(filepath) &&
-        std::filesystem::exists(filepath.string() + ".ghost"))
+    if (!std::filesystem::exists(filepath)) {
       filepath += ".ghost";
+    }
 
     Load(filepath, gameType, headerOnly);
 
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ bool Plugin::IsValid(const std::string& filename,
   bool isValid;
   auto path = dataPath / filename;
   int ret = esp_plugin_is_valid(
-      GetEspluginGameId(gameType), path.string().c_str(), true, &isValid);
+      GetEspluginGameId(gameType), path.u8string().c_str(), true, &isValid);
 
   if (ret != ESP_OK || !isValid) {
     if (logger) {
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ void Plugin::Load(const std::filesystem::path& path,
                   bool headerOnly) {
   ::Plugin* plugin;
   int ret = esp_plugin_new(
-      &plugin, GetEspluginGameId(gameType), path.string().c_str());
+      &plugin, GetEspluginGameId(gameType), path.u8string().c_str());
   if (ret != ESP_OK) {
     throw FileAccessError(path.string() +
                           " : esplugin error code: " + std::to_string(ret));
diff --git a/src/tests/common_game_test_fixture.h b/src/tests/common_game_test_fixture.h
index 4345e1ac..91b0ef33 100644
--- a/src/tests/common_game_test_fixture.h
+++ b/src/tests/common_game_test_fixture.h
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ namespace loot {
 namespace test {
 
 std::filesystem::path getRootTestPath() {
-  auto directoryName = "LOOT-" + boost::lexical_cast<std::string>(
+  auto directoryName = u8"LOOT-t\u00E9st-" + boost::lexical_cast<std::string>(
                                       (boost::uuids::random_generator())());
 
   return std::filesystem::absolute(std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() /
-                                    directoryName);
+                                    std::filesystem::u8path(directoryName));
 }
 
 class CommonGameTestFixture : public ::testing::TestWithParam<GameType> {