diff --git a/src/qtshit/read.zig b/src/qtshit/read.zig
index fa681e3..152f189 100644
--- a/src/qtshit/read.zig
+++ b/src/qtshit/read.zig
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ pub fn get_string(reader: anytype, allocator: *std.mem.Allocator) ![]u8 {
     defer data.deinit();
 
     var length = try reader.readIntBig(i32);
-    var chars = @divTrunc(@divTrunc(length, 8), 2);
+    var chars = @divTrunc(length, 2);
 //    std.debug.print("get_lenchars: {d} {d} \n", .{length, chars});
 
 
diff --git a/src/qtshit/write.zig b/src/qtshit/write.zig
index f5167a0..1119908 100644
--- a/src/qtshit/write.zig
+++ b/src/qtshit/write.zig
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ pub fn add_string(writer: anytype, allocator: *std.mem.Allocator, str: []const u
     }
 //    std.debug.print("add_lenchars: {d} {d} \n", .{@intCast(i32, ut16Str.len*8*2), str.len});
 
-    try writer.writeIntBig(i32, @intCast(i32, ut16Str.len*8*2));
+    try writer.writeIntBig(i32, @intCast(i32, ut16Str.len*2));
     try writer.writeAll(std.mem.sliceAsBytes(ut16Str));    
 }