diff --git a/luaa.c b/luaa.c
index f0e98baa..f01ca6ed 100644
--- a/luaa.c
+++ b/luaa.c
@@ -495,7 +495,9 @@ static int luaA_get_modifiers(lua_State *L)
                 lua_settable(L, -3);
 
                 lua_pushstring(L, "keysym");
-                lua_pushstring(L, XKeysymToString(key_sym));
+                char *string = key_get_keysym_name(key_sym);
+                lua_pushstring(L, string);
+                p_delete(&string);
                 lua_settable(L, -3);
 
                 lua_settable(L, -3);
diff --git a/objects/key.c b/objects/key.c
index 94f73eba..932921ca 100644
--- a/objects/key.c
+++ b/objects/key.c
@@ -275,8 +275,8 @@ luaA_key_set_modifiers(lua_State *L, keyb_t *k)
 LUA_OBJECT_EXPORT_PROPERTY(key, keyb_t, modifiers, luaA_pushmodifiers)
 
 /* It's caller's responsibility to release the returned string. */
-static char *
-get_keysym_name(xkb_keysym_t keysym)
+char *
+key_get_keysym_name(xkb_keysym_t keysym)
 {
     const ssize_t bufsize = 64;
     char *buf = p_new(char, bufsize);
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ luaA_key_get_key(lua_State *L, keyb_t *k)
     }
     else
     {
-        char *name = get_keysym_name(k->keysym);
+        char *name = key_get_keysym_name(k->keysym);
         if(!name)
             return 0;
         lua_pushstring(L, name);
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ luaA_key_get_key(lua_State *L, keyb_t *k)
 static int
 luaA_key_get_keysym(lua_State *L, keyb_t *k)
 {
-    char *name = get_keysym_name(k->keysym);
+    char *name = key_get_keysym_name(k->keysym);
     if(!name)
         return 0;
     lua_pushstring(L, name);
diff --git a/objects/key.h b/objects/key.h
index f5427367..8aa07ffe 100644
--- a/objects/key.h
+++ b/objects/key.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #define AWESOME_OBJECTS_KEY_H
 
 #include "common/luaobject.h"
+#include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h>
 
 typedef struct keyb_t
 {
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ int luaA_key_array_get(lua_State *, int, key_array_t *);
 int luaA_pushmodifiers(lua_State *, uint16_t);
 uint16_t luaA_tomodifiers(lua_State *L, int ud);
 
+char * key_get_keysym_name(xkb_keysym_t keysym);
+
 #endif
 
 // vim: filetype=c:expandtab:shiftwidth=4:tabstop=8:softtabstop=4:textwidth=80