diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java
index 8ce61109e9..00d6640f50 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/ByteBufUtil.java
@@ -304,24 +304,36 @@ public final class ByteBufUtil {
         return -1;
     }
 
-    static ByteBuffer encodeString(CharBuffer src, Charset charset) {
+    /**
+     * Encode the given {@link CharBuffer} using the given {@link Charset} into a new {@link ByteBuf} which
+     * is allocated via the {@link ByteBufAllocator}.
+     */
+    public static ByteBuf encodeString(ByteBufAllocator alloc, CharBuffer src, Charset charset) {
         final CharsetEncoder encoder = CharsetUtil.getEncoder(charset);
-        final ByteBuffer dst = ByteBuffer.allocate(
-                (int) ((double) src.remaining() * encoder.maxBytesPerChar()));
+        int length = (int) ((double) src.remaining() * encoder.maxBytesPerChar());
+        boolean release = true;
+        final ByteBuf dst = alloc.buffer(length);
         try {
-            CoderResult cr = encoder.encode(src, dst, true);
+            final ByteBuffer dstBuf = dst.internalNioBuffer(0, length);
+            final int pos = dstBuf.position();
+            CoderResult cr = encoder.encode(src, dstBuf, true);
             if (!cr.isUnderflow()) {
                 cr.throwException();
             }
-            cr = encoder.flush(dst);
+            cr = encoder.flush(dstBuf);
             if (!cr.isUnderflow()) {
                 cr.throwException();
             }
+            dst.writerIndex(dst.writerIndex() + (dstBuf.position() - pos));
+            release = false;
+            return dst;
         } catch (CharacterCodingException x) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(x);
+        } finally {
+            if (release) {
+                dst.release();
+            }
         }
-        dst.flip();
-        return dst;
     }
 
     static String decodeString(ByteBuffer src, Charset charset) {
diff --git a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/Unpooled.java b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/Unpooled.java
index 2a16be9149..6e1654e41c 100644
--- a/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/Unpooled.java
+++ b/buffer/src/main/java/io/netty/buffer/Unpooled.java
@@ -647,10 +647,7 @@ public final class Unpooled {
     }
 
     private static ByteBuf copiedBuffer(CharBuffer buffer, Charset charset) {
-        ByteBuffer dst = ByteBufUtil.encodeString(buffer, charset);
-        ByteBuf result = wrappedBuffer(dst.array());
-        result.writerIndex(dst.remaining());
-        return result;
+        return ByteBufUtil.encodeString(ALLOC, buffer, charset);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoder.java b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoder.java
index 4d49ba0f90..9177faece1 100644
--- a/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoder.java
+++ b/codec/src/main/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoder.java
@@ -16,13 +16,14 @@
 package io.netty.handler.codec.string;
 
 import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
-import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufUtil;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler.Sharable;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
 import io.netty.channel.ChannelPipeline;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.LineBasedFrameDecoder;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToMessageEncoder;
 
+import java.nio.CharBuffer;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -76,6 +77,6 @@ public class StringEncoder extends MessageToMessageEncoder<CharSequence> {
             return;
         }
 
-        out.add(Unpooled.copiedBuffer(msg, charset));
+        out.add(ByteBufUtil.encodeString(ctx.alloc(), CharBuffer.wrap(msg), charset));
     }
 }
diff --git a/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoderTest.java b/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8c95bff302
--- /dev/null
+++ b/codec/src/test/java/io/netty/handler/codec/string/StringEncoderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 The Netty Project
+ *
+ * The Netty Project licenses this file to you under the Apache License,
+ * version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+ * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package io.netty.handler.codec.string;
+
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.channel.embedded.EmbeddedChannel;
+import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class StringEncoderTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEncode() {
+        String msg = "Test";
+        EmbeddedChannel channel = new EmbeddedChannel(new StringEncoder());
+        Assert.assertTrue(channel.writeOutbound(msg));
+        Assert.assertTrue(channel.finish());
+        ByteBuf buf = (ByteBuf) channel.readOutbound();
+        byte[] data = new byte[buf.readableBytes()];
+        buf.readBytes(data);
+        Assert.assertArrayEquals(msg.getBytes(CharsetUtil.UTF_8), data);
+        Assert.assertNull(channel.readOutbound());
+    }
+}