diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index bb552fb69..707539f62 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ client_updatetitle(client_t *c)
             return;
 
     p_delete(&c->name);
-    c->name = name;
+    a_iso2utf8(name, &c->name);
 
     /* call hook */
     luaA_client_userdata_new(c);
@@ -1178,7 +1178,7 @@ luaA_client_name_set(lua_State *L)
     client_t **c = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "client");
     const char *name = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
     p_delete(&(*c)->name);
-    (*c)->name = a_strdup(name);
+    a_iso2utf8(name, &(*c)->name);
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/common/draw.c b/common/draw.c
index a7e4e560f..40acd55e4 100644
--- a/common/draw.c
+++ b/common/draw.c
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
  * \param iso the ISO string to convert
  * \return NULL if error, otherwise pointer to the new converted string
  */
-static char *
+char *
 draw_iso2utf8(const char *iso)
 {
     iconv_t iso2utf8;
@@ -304,11 +304,7 @@ draw_text(draw_context_t *ctx, font_t *font,
     if(!(len = a_strlen(text)))
         return;
 
-    /* try to convert it to UTF-8 */
-    if((utf8 = draw_iso2utf8(text)))
-        len = a_strlen(utf8);
-    else
-        utf8 = a_strdup(text);
+    utf8 = a_strdup(text);
 
     p_clear(&parser_data, 1);
     parser_data.connection = ctx->connection;
@@ -1033,10 +1029,7 @@ draw_text_extents(xcb_connection_t *conn, int phys_screen, font_t *font, const c
         return geom;
 
     /* try to convert it to UTF-8 */
-    if((utf8 = draw_iso2utf8(text)))
-        len = a_strlen(utf8);
-    else
-        utf8 = a_strdup(text);
+    utf8 = a_strdup(text);
 
     p_clear(&parser_data, 1);
     parser_data.connection = conn;
diff --git a/common/draw.h b/common/draw.h
index 05a3e8c6b..ff3d3ca92 100644
--- a/common/draw.h
+++ b/common/draw.h
@@ -139,6 +139,21 @@ draw_context_delete(draw_context_t **ctx)
 font_t *draw_font_new(xcb_connection_t *, int, const char *);
 void draw_font_delete(font_t **);
 
+char * draw_iso2utf8(const char *);
+
+static inline bool
+a_iso2utf8(const char *str, char **res)
+{
+    char *utf8;
+    if((utf8 = draw_iso2utf8(str)))
+    {
+        *res = utf8;
+        return true;
+    }
+    *res = a_strdup(str);
+    return false;
+}
+
 void draw_text(draw_context_t *, font_t *, area_t, const char *);
 void draw_rectangle(draw_context_t *, area_t, float, bool, xcolor_t);
 void draw_rectangle_gradient(draw_context_t *, area_t, float, bool, area_t, xcolor_t *, xcolor_t *, xcolor_t *);
diff --git a/tag.c b/tag.c
index 5550f41b0..b97db0ad7 100644
--- a/tag.c
+++ b/tag.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ tag_new(const char *name, layout_t *layout, double mwfact, int nmaster, int ncol
     tag_t *tag;
 
     tag = p_new(tag_t, 1);
-    tag->name = a_strdup(name);
+    a_iso2utf8(name, &tag->name);
     tag->layout = layout;
 
     tag->mwfact = mwfact;
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ luaA_tag_name_set(lua_State *L)
     tag_t **tag = luaA_checkudata(L, 1, "tag");
     const char *name = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
     p_delete(&(*tag)->name);
-    (*tag)->name = a_strdup(name);
+    a_iso2utf8(name, &(*tag)->name);
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/widgets/textbox.c b/widgets/textbox.c
index da41cec04..5fe90781b 100644
--- a/widgets/textbox.c
+++ b/widgets/textbox.c
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ textbox_tell(widget_t *widget, const char *property, const char *new_value)
     if(!a_strcmp(property, "text"))
     {
         p_delete(&d->text);
-        d->text = a_strdup(new_value);
+        a_iso2utf8(new_value, &d->text);
     }
     else if(!a_strcmp(property, "width"))
         d->width = atoi(new_value);