diff --git a/src/3rdparty/squirrel/include/squirrel.h b/src/3rdparty/squirrel/include/squirrel.h
index 9dd4d7a75d..7dfdaed9ad 100644
--- a/src/3rdparty/squirrel/include/squirrel.h
+++ b/src/3rdparty/squirrel/include/squirrel.h
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ void sq_newclosure(HSQUIRRELVM v,SQFUNCTION func,SQUnsignedInteger nfreevars);
 SQRESULT sq_setparamscheck(HSQUIRRELVM v,SQInteger nparamscheck,const SQChar *typemask);
 SQRESULT sq_bindenv(HSQUIRRELVM v,SQInteger idx);
 void sq_pushstring(HSQUIRRELVM v,const SQChar *s,SQInteger len);
+static inline void sq_pushstring(HSQUIRRELVM v, const std::string &str, SQInteger len = -1) { sq_pushstring(v, str.c_str(), len == -1 ? str.size() : len); }
 void sq_pushfloat(HSQUIRRELVM v,SQFloat f);
 void sq_pushinteger(HSQUIRRELVM v,SQInteger n);
 void sq_pushbool(HSQUIRRELVM v,SQBool b);
diff --git a/src/game/game_text.cpp b/src/game/game_text.cpp
index dc78e6a927..9db7e52ad6 100644
--- a/src/game/game_text.cpp
+++ b/src/game/game_text.cpp
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ void RegisterGameTranslation(Squirrel *engine)
 
 	int idx = 0;
 	for (const auto &p : _current_data->string_names) {
-		sq_pushstring(vm, p.c_str(), -1);
+		sq_pushstring(vm, p, -1);
 		sq_pushinteger(vm, idx);
 		sq_rawset(vm, -3);
 		idx++;
diff --git a/src/script/script_instance.cpp b/src/script/script_instance.cpp
index b7a4497aae..1383a4540b 100644
--- a/src/script/script_instance.cpp
+++ b/src/script/script_instance.cpp
@@ -618,7 +618,7 @@ bool ScriptInstance::IsPaused()
 	}
 
 	if (std::holds_alternative<std::string>(value)) {
-		sq_pushstring(vm, std::get<std::string>(value).c_str(), -1);
+		sq_pushstring(vm, std::get<std::string>(value), -1);
 		return true;
 	}