diff --git a/src/pya/pya/pya.cc b/src/pya/pya/pya.cc
index d46f49ec0..8e720cc59 100644
--- a/src/pya/pya/pya.cc
+++ b/src/pya/pya/pya.cc
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ PythonInterpreter::PythonInterpreter (bool embedded)
   : gsi::Interpreter (0, "pya"),
     mp_current_console (0), mp_current_exec_handler (0), m_current_exec_level (0),
     m_in_trace (false), m_block_exceptions (false), m_ignore_next_exception (false),
-    mp_current_frame (NULL), mp_py3_app_name (0), m_embedded (embedded)
+    mp_current_frame (NULL), m_embedded (embedded)
 {
   //  Don't attempt any additional initialization in the standalone module case
   if (! embedded) {
@@ -347,19 +347,16 @@ PythonInterpreter::PythonInterpreter (bool embedded)
 #else
 
   //  Python 3 requires a unicode string for the application name
-  PyObject *an = c2python (app_path);
-  tl_assert (an != NULL);
-  mp_py3_app_name = PyUnicode_AsWideCharString (an, NULL);
-  tl_assert (mp_py3_app_name != NULL);
-  Py_DECREF (an);
-  Py_SetProgramName (mp_py3_app_name);
+
+  mp_py3_app_name = tl::to_wstring (app_path);
+  Py_SetProgramName (const_cast<wchar_t *> (mp_py3_app_name.c_str ()));
 
   PyImport_AppendInittab (pya_module_name, &init_pya_module);
   Py_InitializeEx (0 /*don't set signals*/);
 
   //  Set dummy argv[]
   //  TODO: more?
-  wchar_t *argv[1] = { mp_py3_app_name };
+  wchar_t *argv[1] = { const_cast<wchar_t *> (mp_py3_app_name.c_str()) };
   PySys_SetArgvEx (1, argv, 0);
 
   //  Import the module
@@ -396,14 +393,7 @@ PythonInterpreter::~PythonInterpreter ()
   sp_interpreter = 0;
 
   if (m_embedded) {
-
     Py_Finalize ();
-
-    if (mp_py3_app_name) {
-      PyMem_Free (mp_py3_app_name);
-      mp_py3_app_name = 0;
-    }
-
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pya/pya/pya.h b/src/pya/pya/pya.h
index d0d18fce8..6a93f26fb 100644
--- a/src/pya/pya/pya.h
+++ b/src/pya/pya/pya.h
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ private:
   std::string m_debugger_scope;
   PyFrameObject *mp_current_frame;
   std::map<PyObject *, size_t> m_file_id_map;
-  wchar_t *mp_py3_app_name;
+  std::wstring mp_py3_app_name;
   bool m_embedded;
   std::unique_ptr<pya::PythonModule> m_pya_module;
 };