diff --git a/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/NBTIO.java b/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/NBTIO.java
index a1379ce..88c54a4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/NBTIO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/NBTIO.java
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import org.spacehq.opennbt.tag.builtin.CompoundTag;
 import org.spacehq.opennbt.tag.builtin.Tag;
 
 import java.io.*;
-import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.zip.GZIPInputStream;
 import java.util.zip.GZIPOutputStream;
 
@@ -14,7 +13,6 @@ import java.util.zip.GZIPOutputStream;
  * A class containing methods for reading/writing NBT tags.
  */
 public class NBTIO {
-	public static final Charset CHARSET = Charset.forName("UTF-8");
 
 	/**
 	 * Reads the root CompoundTag from the given file.
@@ -145,10 +143,9 @@ public class NBTIO {
 			return null;
 		}
 
-		byte[] nameBytes = new byte[in.readUnsignedShort()];
-		in.readFully(nameBytes);
-		String name = new String(nameBytes, CHARSET);
-		Tag tag = null;
+		String name = in.readUTF();
+		Tag tag;
+
 		try {
 			tag = TagRegistry.createInstance(id, name);
 		} catch(TagCreateException e) {
@@ -167,10 +164,8 @@ public class NBTIO {
 	 * @throws java.io.IOException If an I/O error occurs.
 	 */
 	public static void writeTag(DataOutputStream out, Tag tag) throws IOException {
-		byte[] nameBytes = tag.getName().getBytes(CHARSET);
 		out.writeByte(TagRegistry.getIdFor(tag.getClass()));
-		out.writeShort(nameBytes.length);
-		out.write(nameBytes);
+		out.writeUTF(tag.getName());
 		tag.write(out);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/StringTag.java b/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/StringTag.java
index 00f1e5c..c241a48 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/StringTag.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/StringTag.java
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 package org.spacehq.opennbt.tag.builtin;
 
-import org.spacehq.opennbt.NBTIO;
-
 import java.io.DataInputStream;
 import java.io.DataOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -48,16 +46,12 @@ public class StringTag extends Tag {
 
 	@Override
 	public void read(DataInputStream in) throws IOException {
-		byte[] bytes = new byte[in.readShort()];
-		in.readFully(bytes);
-		this.value = new String(bytes, NBTIO.CHARSET);
+		this.value = in.readUTF();
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public void write(DataOutputStream out) throws IOException {
-		byte[] bytes = this.value.getBytes(NBTIO.CHARSET);
-		out.writeShort(bytes.length);
-		out.write(bytes);
+		out.writeUTF(this.value);
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/custom/StringArrayTag.java b/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/custom/StringArrayTag.java
index 22fab81..b0c8627 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/custom/StringArrayTag.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/spacehq/opennbt/tag/builtin/custom/StringArrayTag.java
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package org.spacehq.opennbt.tag.builtin.custom;
 
-import org.spacehq.opennbt.NBTIO;
 import org.spacehq.opennbt.tag.builtin.Tag;
 
 import java.io.DataInputStream;
@@ -84,9 +83,7 @@ public class StringArrayTag extends Tag {
 	public void read(DataInputStream in) throws IOException {
 		this.value = new String[in.readInt()];
 		for(int index = 0; index < this.value.length; index++) {
-			byte[] bytes = new byte[in.readShort()];
-			in.readFully(bytes);
-			this.value[index] = new String(bytes, NBTIO.CHARSET);
+			this.value[index] = in.readUTF();
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -94,9 +91,7 @@ public class StringArrayTag extends Tag {
 	public void write(DataOutputStream out) throws IOException {
 		out.writeInt(this.value.length);
 		for(int index = 0; index < this.value.length; index++) {
-			byte[] bytes = this.value[index].getBytes(NBTIO.CHARSET);
-			out.writeShort(bytes.length);
-			out.write(bytes);
+			out.writeUTF(this.value[index]);
 		}
 	}