diff --git a/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp b/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
index adbaed2f2b..28a558570b 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
@@ -89,14 +89,14 @@ char* MemoryOutputStream::prepareToWrite (size_t numBytes)
         if (storageNeeded >= blockToUse->getSize())
             blockToUse->ensureSize ((storageNeeded + jmin (storageNeeded / 2, (size_t) (1024 * 1024)) + 32) & ~31u);
 
-        data = static_cast <char*> (blockToUse->getData());
+        data = static_cast<char*> (blockToUse->getData());
     }
     else
     {
         if (storageNeeded > availableSize)
             return nullptr;
 
-        data = static_cast <char*> (externalData);
+        data = static_cast<char*> (externalData);
     }
 
     char* const writePointer = data + position;
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ const void* MemoryOutputStream::getData() const noexcept
         return externalData;
 
     if (blockToUse->getSize() > size)
-        static_cast <char*> (blockToUse->getData()) [size] = 0;
+        static_cast<char*> (blockToUse->getData()) [size] = 0;
 
     return blockToUse->getData();
 }
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ int64 MemoryOutputStream::writeFromInputStream (InputStream& source, int64 maxNu
 
 String MemoryOutputStream::toUTF8() const
 {
-    const char* const d = static_cast <const char*> (getData());
+    const char* const d = static_cast<const char*> (getData());
     return String (CharPointer_UTF8 (d), CharPointer_UTF8 (d + getDataSize()));
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/text/juce_CharPointer_UTF8.h b/modules/juce_core/text/juce_CharPointer_UTF8.h
index cf8e6d9be4..f6e156e147 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/text/juce_CharPointer_UTF8.h
+++ b/modules/juce_core/text/juce_CharPointer_UTF8.h
@@ -458,9 +458,9 @@ public:
     }
 
     /** Returns true if the first character of this string is whitespace. */
-    bool isWhitespace() const noexcept      { return *data == ' ' || (*data <= 13 && *data >= 9); }
+    bool isWhitespace() const noexcept      { const CharType c = *data; return c == ' ' || (c <= 13 && c >= 9); }
     /** Returns true if the first character of this string is a digit. */
-    bool isDigit() const noexcept           { return *data >= '0' && *data <= '9'; }
+    bool isDigit() const noexcept           { const CharType c = *data; return c >= '0' && c <= '9'; }
     /** Returns true if the first character of this string is a letter. */
     bool isLetter() const noexcept          { return CharacterFunctions::isLetter (operator*()) != 0; }
     /** Returns true if the first character of this string is a letter or digit. */
diff --git a/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlDocument.cpp b/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlDocument.cpp
index 2eab527a25..ecbba2df95 100644
--- a/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlDocument.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_core/xml/juce_XmlDocument.cpp
@@ -555,7 +555,8 @@ void XmlDocument::readChildElements (XmlElement& parent)
         else  // must be a character block
         {
             input = preWhitespaceInput; // roll back to include the leading whitespace
-            String textElementContent;
+            MemoryOutputStream textElementContent;
+            bool contentShouldBeUsed = ! ignoreEmptyTextElements;
 
             for (;;)
             {
@@ -602,28 +603,20 @@ void XmlDocument::readChildElements (XmlElement& parent)
                         input = entity.getCharPointer();
                         outOfData = false;
 
-                        for (;;)
-                        {
-                            XmlElement* const n = readNextElement (true);
-
-                            if (n == nullptr)
-                                break;
-
+                        while (XmlElement* n = readNextElement (true))
                             childAppender.append (n);
-                        }
 
                         input = oldInput;
                         outOfData = oldOutOfData;
                     }
                     else
                     {
-                        textElementContent += entity;
+                        textElementContent << entity;
+                        contentShouldBeUsed = contentShouldBeUsed || entity.containsNonWhitespaceChars();
                     }
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    const String::CharPointerType start (input);
-
                     for (;;)
                     {
                         const juce_wchar nextChar = *input;
@@ -638,15 +631,15 @@ void XmlDocument::readChildElements (XmlElement& parent)
                             return;
                         }
 
+                        textElementContent.appendUTF8Char (nextChar);
+                        contentShouldBeUsed = contentShouldBeUsed || ! CharacterFunctions::isWhitespace (nextChar);
                         ++input;
                     }
-
-                    textElementContent.appendCharPointer (start, input);
                 }
             }
 
-            if ((! ignoreEmptyTextElements) || textElementContent.containsNonWhitespaceChars())
-                childAppender.append (XmlElement::createTextElement (textElementContent));
+            if (contentShouldBeUsed)
+                childAppender.append (XmlElement::createTextElement (textElementContent.toString()));
         }
     }
 }