// Nodename is SV* holding "examplenode" printf("Nodename=[%s]\n", SvPV_nolen(Nodename)); // output: "Nodename=[examplenode]" sv_utf8_upgrade(Nodename); wprintf(L"Got [%s]\n", (wchar_t*)SvPVutf8_nolen(Nodename)); // output: "Nodename=[]"