diff --git a/src/libutil/strutil.cpp b/src/libutil/strutil.cpp
index 129a9b5..09baea8 100644
--- a/src/libutil/strutil.cpp
+++ b/src/libutil/strutil.cpp
@@ -914,8 +914,15 @@ std::string
 Strutil::utf16_to_utf8(const std::u16string& str) noexcept
 {
     try {
+        // https://stackoverflow.com/a/35103224
+#if defined _MSC_VER && _MSC_VER >= 1900 && _MSC_VER < 1930
+        std::wstring_convert<std::codecvt_utf8_utf16<int16_t>, int16_t> convert;
+        auto p = reinterpret_cast<const int16_t *>(str.data());
+        return convert.to_bytes(p, p + str.size());
+#else
         std::wstring_convert<std::codecvt_utf8_utf16<char16_t>, char16_t> conv;
         return conv.to_bytes(str);
+#endif
     } catch (const std::exception&) {
         return std::string();
     }