diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java
index ca35b90bc4..579c6ea5bf 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/AbstractByteBuf.java
@@ -947,20 +947,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractByteBuf extends ByteBuf {
 
     @Override
     public String toString(int index, int length, Charset charset) {
-        if (length == 0) {
-            return "";
-        }
-
-        ByteBuffer nioBuffer;
-        if (nioBufferCount() == 1) {
-            nioBuffer = nioBuffer(index, length);
-        } else {
-            nioBuffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(length);
-            getBytes(index, nioBuffer);
-            nioBuffer.flip();
-        }
-
-        return ByteBufUtil.decodeString(nioBuffer, charset);
+        return ByteBufUtil.decodeString(this, index, length, charset);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java
index 415c03c29e..48aa9c75c8 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import io.netty.util.ByteString;
 import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
 import io.netty.util.Recycler;
 import io.netty.util.Recycler.Handle;
+import io.netty.util.concurrent.FastThreadLocal;
 import io.netty.util.internal.PlatformDependent;
 import io.netty.util.internal.StringUtil;
 import io.netty.util.internal.SystemPropertyUtil;
@@ -47,7 +48,14 @@ import java.util.Locale;
 public final class ByteBufUtil {
 
     private static final InternalLogger logger = InternalLoggerFactory.getInstance(ByteBufUtil.class);
+    private static final FastThreadLocal<CharBuffer> CHAR_BUFFERS = new FastThreadLocal<CharBuffer>() {
+        @Override
+        protected CharBuffer initialValue() throws Exception {
+            return CharBuffer.allocate(1024);
+        }
+    };
 
+    private static final int MAX_CHAR_BUFFER_SIZE;
     private static final char[] HEXDUMP_TABLE = new char[256 * 4];
     private static final String NEWLINE = StringUtil.NEWLINE;
     private static final String[] BYTE2HEX = new String[256];
@@ -133,6 +141,9 @@ public final class ByteBufUtil {
 
         THREAD_LOCAL_BUFFER_SIZE = SystemPropertyUtil.getInt("io.netty.threadLocalDirectBufferSize", 64 * 1024);
         logger.debug("-Dio.netty.threadLocalDirectBufferSize: {}", THREAD_LOCAL_BUFFER_SIZE);
+
+        MAX_CHAR_BUFFER_SIZE = SystemPropertyUtil.getInt("io.netty.maxThreadLocalCharBufferSize", 16 * 1024);
+        logger.debug("-Dio.netty.maxThreadLocalCharBufferSize: {}", MAX_CHAR_BUFFER_SIZE);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -579,10 +590,41 @@ public final class ByteBufUtil {
         }
     }
 
-    static String decodeString(ByteBuffer src, Charset charset) {
+    static String decodeString(ByteBuf src, int readerIndex, int len, Charset charset) {
+        if (len == 0) {
+            return StringUtil.EMPTY_STRING;
+        }
         final CharsetDecoder decoder = CharsetUtil.getDecoder(charset);
-        final CharBuffer dst = CharBuffer.allocate(
-                (int) ((double) src.remaining() * decoder.maxCharsPerByte()));
+        final int maxLength = (int) ((double) len * decoder.maxCharsPerByte());
+        CharBuffer dst = CHAR_BUFFERS.get();
+        if (dst.length() < maxLength) {
+            dst = CharBuffer.allocate(maxLength);
+            if (maxLength <= MAX_CHAR_BUFFER_SIZE) {
+                CHAR_BUFFERS.set(dst);
+            }
+        } else {
+            dst.clear();
+        }
+        if (src.nioBufferCount() == 1) {
+            // Use internalNioBuffer(...) to reduce object creation.
+            decodeString(decoder, src.internalNioBuffer(readerIndex, len), dst);
+        } else {
+            // We use a heap buffer as CharsetDecoder is most likely able to use a fast-path if src and dst buffers
+            // are both backed by a byte array.
+            ByteBuf buffer = src.alloc().heapBuffer(len);
+            try {
+                buffer.writeBytes(src, readerIndex, len);
+                // Use internalNioBuffer(...) to reduce object creation.
+                decodeString(decoder, buffer.internalNioBuffer(readerIndex, len), dst);
+            } finally {
+                // Release the temporary buffer again.
+                buffer.release();
+            }
+        }
+        return dst.flip().toString();
+    }
+
+    private static void decodeString(CharsetDecoder decoder, ByteBuffer src, CharBuffer dst) {
         try {
             CoderResult cr = decoder.decode(src, dst, true);
             if (!cr.isUnderflow()) {
@@ -595,7 +637,6 @@ public final class ByteBufUtil {
         } catch (CharacterCodingException x) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(x);
         }
-        return dst.flip().toString();
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/buffer/src/test/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtilTest.java b/buffer/src/test/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtilTest.java
index e333cf394f..a401fd1a23 100644
--- a/buffer/src/test/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtilTest.java
+++ b/buffer/src/test/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtilTest.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import java.util.Random;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+
 public class ByteBufUtilTest {
     @Test
     public void equalsBufferSubsections() {
@@ -156,4 +158,20 @@ public class ByteBufUtilTest {
     private static void assertWrapped(ByteBuf buf) {
         assertTrue(buf instanceof WrappedByteBuf);
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDecodeUsAscii() {
+        testDecodeString("This is a test", CharsetUtil.US_ASCII);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDecodeUtf8() {
+        testDecodeString("Some UTF-8 like äÄ∏ŒŒ", CharsetUtil.UTF_8);
+    }
+
+    private static void testDecodeString(String text, Charset charset) {
+        ByteBuf buffer = Unpooled.copiedBuffer(text, charset);
+        Assert.assertEquals(text, ByteBufUtil.decodeString(buffer, 0, buffer.readableBytes(), charset));
+        buffer.release();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/microbench/src/main/java/io/netty/microbench/buffer/ByteBufUtilBenchmark.java b/microbench/src/main/java/io/netty/microbench/buffer/ByteBufUtilBenchmark.java
index 060d2ef1fc..12e99cf520 100644
--- a/microbench/src/main/java/io/netty/microbench/buffer/ByteBufUtilBenchmark.java
+++ b/microbench/src/main/java/io/netty/microbench/buffer/ByteBufUtilBenchmark.java
@@ -30,12 +30,14 @@ import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Warmup;
 
 
 @State(Scope.Benchmark)
-@Warmup(iterations = 10)
-@Measurement(iterations = 25)
+@Warmup(iterations = 5)
+@Measurement(iterations = 10)
 public class
     ByteBufUtilBenchmark extends AbstractMicrobenchmark {
     private ByteBuf buffer;
     private ByteBuf wrapped;
+    private ByteBuf asciiBuffer;
+    private ByteBuf utf8Buffer;
 
     private StringBuilder asciiSequence;
     private String ascii;
@@ -62,12 +64,17 @@ public class
         }
         utf8 = utf8Sequence.toString();
         asciiSequence = utf8Sequence;
+
+        asciiBuffer = Unpooled.copiedBuffer(ascii, CharsetUtil.US_ASCII);
+        utf8Buffer = Unpooled.copiedBuffer(utf8, CharsetUtil.UTF_8);
     }
 
     @TearDown
     public void tearDown() {
         buffer.release();
         wrapped.release();
+        asciiBuffer.release();
+        utf8Buffer.release();
     }
 
     @Benchmark
@@ -165,4 +172,14 @@ public class
         wrapped.resetWriterIndex();
         ByteBufUtil.writeUtf8(wrapped, utf8Sequence);
     }
+
+    @Benchmark
+    public String decodeStringAscii() {
+        return asciiBuffer.toString(CharsetUtil.US_ASCII);
+    }
+
+    @Benchmark
+    public String decodeStringUtf8() {
+        return utf8Buffer.toString(CharsetUtil.UTF_8);
+    }
 }