diff --git a/src/Elm/Kernel/Bytes.js b/src/Elm/Kernel/Bytes.js
index a8f4a69..fcf6b6d 100755
--- a/src/Elm/Kernel/Bytes.js
+++ b/src/Elm/Kernel/Bytes.js
@@ -151,12 +151,12 @@ var _Bytes_read_bytes = F3(function(len, bytes, offset)
 
 var _Bytes_read_string = F3(function(len, bytes, offset)
 {
-	var string = '';
+	var string = [];
 	var end = offset + len;
 	for (; offset < end;)
 	{
 		var byte = bytes.getUint8(offset++);
-		string +=
+		string.push(
 			(byte < 128)
 				? String.fromCharCode(byte)
 				:
@@ -177,9 +177,10 @@ var _Bytes_read_string = F3(function(len, bytes, offset)
 						| bytes.getUint8(offset++) & 0x3F /* 0b00111111 */
 					) - 0x10000
 				, String.fromCharCode(Math.floor(byte / 0x400) + 0xD800, byte % 0x400 + 0xDC00)
-				);
+				)
+		);
 	}
-	return __Utils_Tuple2(offset, string);
+	return __Utils_Tuple2(offset, string.join(''));
 });
 
 var _Bytes_decodeFailure = F2(function() { throw 0; });