diff --git a/modules/juce_osc/osc/juce_OSCSender.cpp b/modules/juce_osc/osc/juce_OSCSender.cpp
index edfd49098e..fa75b06328 100644
--- a/modules/juce_osc/osc/juce_OSCSender.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_osc/osc/juce_OSCSender.cpp
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ namespace
             if (! output.writeString (value))
                 return false;
 
-            const size_t numPaddingZeros = ~value.length() & 3;
+            const size_t numPaddingZeros = ~value.getNumBytesAsUTF8() & 3;
 
             return output.writeRepeatedByte ('\0', numPaddingZeros);
         }