diff --git a/components/esm/esmreader.cpp b/components/esm/esmreader.cpp
index 51d86a2eeb..f02ed2d6e1 100644
--- a/components/esm/esmreader.cpp
+++ b/components/esm/esmreader.cpp
@@ -303,7 +303,10 @@ std::string ESMReader::getString(int size)
     getExact(ptr, size);
 
     // Convert to UTF8 and return
-    return mEncoder->getUtf8(ptr, size);
+    if (mEncoder)
+        return mEncoder->getUtf8(ptr, size);
+
+    return std::string (ptr, size);
 }
 
 void ESMReader::fail(const std::string &msg)
diff --git a/components/esm/esmwriter.cpp b/components/esm/esmwriter.cpp
index f39aa2b898..c9ef61b635 100644
--- a/components/esm/esmwriter.cpp
+++ b/components/esm/esmwriter.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 namespace ESM
 {
-    ESMWriter::ESMWriter() : mRecordCount (0), mCounting (true) {}
+    ESMWriter::ESMWriter() : mEncoder (0), mRecordCount (0), mCounting (true) {}
 
     unsigned int ESMWriter::getVersion() const
     {
@@ -152,9 +152,9 @@ namespace ESM
         else
         {
             // Convert to UTF8 and return
-            std::string ascii = mEncoder->getLegacyEnc(data);
+            std::string string = mEncoder ? mEncoder->getLegacyEnc(data) : data;
 
-            write(ascii.c_str(), ascii.size());
+            write(string.c_str(), string.size());
         }
     }