diff --git a/components/nif/nif_file.hpp b/components/nif/nif_file.hpp
index a4eaa8990..23bccb0fe 100644
--- a/components/nif/nif_file.hpp
+++ b/components/nif/nif_file.hpp
@@ -193,11 +193,12 @@ public:
 
     std::string getString(size_t length)
     {
-        std::string str;
-        str.resize(length);
+        std::vector<char> str (length+1, 0);
+
         if(inp->read(&str[0], length) != length)
-            return std::string();
-        return str.substr(0, str.find('\0'));
+            throw std::runtime_error ("string length in NIF file does not match");
+
+        return &str[0];
     }
     std::string getString()
     {