diff --git a/src/runtime/runtime.cs b/src/runtime/runtime.cs
index 374e88cf6..10cbdc869 100644
--- a/src/runtime/runtime.cs
+++ b/src/runtime/runtime.cs
@@ -1024,16 +1024,13 @@ internal static bool PyObject_IsIterable(IntPtr pointer)
         }
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern int PyObject_HasAttrString(IntPtr pointer, string name);
+        internal static extern int PyObject_HasAttrString(IntPtr pointer, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string name);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern IntPtr PyObject_GetAttrString(IntPtr pointer, string name);
+        internal static extern IntPtr PyObject_GetAttrString(IntPtr pointer, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string name);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern IntPtr PyObject_GetAttrString(IntPtr pointer, IntPtr name);
-
-        [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern int PyObject_SetAttrString(IntPtr pointer, string name, IntPtr value);
+        internal static extern int PyObject_SetAttrString(IntPtr pointer, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string name, IntPtr value);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
         internal static extern int PyObject_HasAttr(IntPtr pointer, IntPtr name);
@@ -1648,7 +1645,7 @@ internal static bool PyDict_Check(IntPtr ob)
         /// Return value: Borrowed reference.
         /// </summary>
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern IntPtr PyDict_GetItemString(IntPtr pointer, string key);
+        internal static extern IntPtr PyDict_GetItemString(IntPtr pointer, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string key);
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Return 0 on success or -1 on failure.
@@ -1660,13 +1657,13 @@ internal static bool PyDict_Check(IntPtr ob)
         ///  Return 0 on success or -1 on failure.
         /// </summary>
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern int PyDict_SetItemString(IntPtr pointer, string key, IntPtr value);
+        internal static extern int PyDict_SetItemString(IntPtr pointer, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string key, IntPtr value);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
         internal static extern int PyDict_DelItem(IntPtr pointer, IntPtr key);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern int PyDict_DelItemString(IntPtr pointer, string key);
+        internal static extern int PyDict_DelItemString(IntPtr pointer, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string key);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
         internal static extern int PyMapping_HasKey(IntPtr pointer, IntPtr key);
@@ -2018,7 +2015,7 @@ internal static IntPtr PyMem_Realloc(IntPtr ptr, long size)
         //====================================================================
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
-        internal static extern void PyErr_SetString(IntPtr ob, string message);
+        internal static extern void PyErr_SetString(IntPtr ob, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.CustomMarshaler, MarshalTypeRef = typeof(Utf8Marshaler))] string message);
 
         [DllImport(_PythonDll, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
         internal static extern void PyErr_SetObject(BorrowedReference type, BorrowedReference exceptionObject);
diff --git a/src/testing/methodtest.cs b/src/testing/methodtest.cs
index cd4a740d5..f5d694488 100644
--- a/src/testing/methodtest.cs
+++ b/src/testing/methodtest.cs
@@ -713,6 +713,10 @@ public static string ParamsArrayOverloaded(int i, params int[] paramsArray)
         {
             return "with params-array";
         }
+
+        public static void EncodingTestÅngström()
+        {
+        }
     }
 
 
diff --git a/src/tests/test_method.py b/src/tests/test_method.py
index c7859e881..18eb5af8e 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_method.py
+++ b/src/tests/test_method.py
@@ -1221,3 +1221,5 @@ def test_params_array_overload():
     # res = MethodTest.ParamsArrayOverloaded(paramsArray=[], i=1)
     # assert res == "with params-array"
 
+def test_method_encoding():
+    MethodTest.EncodingTestÅngström()