diff --git a/src/if_python3.c b/src/if_python3.c
index 8a7a3a4..8a5b332 100644
--- a/src/if_python3.c
+++ b/src/if_python3.c
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@
 #ifndef PyString_Check
 # define PyString_Check(obj) PyUnicode_Check(obj)
 #endif
-#define PyString_FromString(repr) PyUnicode_FromString(repr)
+#define PyString_FromString(repr) \
+    PyUnicode_Decode(repr, STRLEN(repr), ENC_OPT, NULL)
 #define PyString_FromFormat PyUnicode_FromFormat
 #ifndef PyInt_Check
 # define PyInt_Check(obj) PyLong_Check(obj)
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index 02086c7..5f8df77 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -729,6 +729,8 @@
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
 /**/
+    8,
+/**/
     7,
 /**/
     6,