diff --git a/OpenGL/raw/GLUT/__init__.py b/OpenGL/raw/GLUT/__init__.py
index ca3344ab..47831f0c 100644
--- a/OpenGL/raw/GLUT/__init__.py
+++ b/OpenGL/raw/GLUT/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from OpenGL.raw.GLUT.constants import *
 
 from ctypes import *
+from OpenGL._bytes import unicode
 from OpenGL import platform, arrays
 from OpenGL.constant import Constant
 from OpenGL import constants as GLconstants
@@ -17,7 +18,12 @@
 else:
     CALLBACK_FUNCTION_TYPE = platform.PLATFORM.functionTypeFor( platform.GLUT )
 
-STRING = c_char_p
+class STRING( c_char_p ):
+    @classmethod
+    def from_param( cls, value ):
+        if isinstance( value, unicode ):
+            value = value.encode( 'utf-8' )
+        return super( STRING, cls ).from_param( value )
 from OpenGL.constants import GLenum
 from OpenGL.constants import GLfloat
 from OpenGL.constants import GLdouble