diff --git a/libsqlite3-sys/src/lib.rs b/libsqlite3-sys/src/lib.rs
index 8f4712d..a3411c5 100644
--- a/libsqlite3-sys/src/lib.rs
+++ b/libsqlite3-sys/src/lib.rs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ pub const SQLITE_NULL : c_int = 5;
 pub type SqliteDestructor = extern "C" fn(*mut c_void);
 
 pub fn SQLITE_TRANSIENT() -> SqliteDestructor {
-    unsafe { mem::transmute(-1is) }
+    unsafe { mem::transmute(-1isize) }
 }
 
 pub fn code_to_str(code: c_int) -> &'static str {
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 8286d7a..2579580 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 //!     }
 //! }
 //! ```
-#![feature(unsafe_destructor, core, std_misc, path, libc, rustc_private, collections, hash)]
+#![feature(unsafe_destructor, core, std_misc, path, libc, rustc_private, collections)]
 #![cfg_attr(test, feature(test))]
 
 extern crate libc;
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ bitflags! {
 
 impl InnerSqliteConnection {
     fn open_with_flags(path: &str, flags: SqliteOpenFlags) -> SqliteResult<InnerSqliteConnection> {
-        let c_path = CString::from_slice(path.as_bytes());
+        let c_path = try!(str_to_cstring(path));
         unsafe {
             let mut db: *mut ffi::sqlite3 = mem::uninitialized();
             let r = ffi::sqlite3_open_v2(c_path.as_ptr(), &mut db, flags.bits(), ptr::null());
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ impl InnerSqliteConnection {
     }
 
     fn execute_batch(&mut self, sql: &str) -> SqliteResult<()> {
-        let c_sql = CString::from_slice(sql.as_bytes());
+        let c_sql = try!(str_to_cstring(sql));
         unsafe {
             let mut errmsg: *mut c_char = mem::uninitialized();
             let r = ffi::sqlite3_exec(self.db, c_sql.as_ptr(), None, ptr::null_mut(), &mut errmsg);
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ impl InnerSqliteConnection {
                    conn: &'a SqliteConnection,
                    sql: &str) -> SqliteResult<SqliteStatement<'a>> {
         let mut c_stmt: *mut ffi::sqlite3_stmt = unsafe { mem::uninitialized() };
-        let c_sql = CString::from_slice(sql.as_bytes());
+        let c_sql = try!(str_to_cstring(sql));
         let r = unsafe {
             let len_with_nul = (sql.len() + 1) as c_int;
             ffi::sqlite3_prepare_v2(self.db, c_sql.as_ptr(), len_with_nul, &mut c_stmt,
diff --git a/src/types.rs b/src/types.rs
index b63c03a..a15f4a5 100644
--- a/src/types.rs
+++ b/src/types.rs
@@ -55,12 +55,11 @@
 extern crate time;
 
 use libc::{c_int, c_double, c_char};
-use std::ffi as std_ffi;
-use std::ffi::{CString};
+use std::ffi::{CStr};
 use std::mem;
 use std::str;
 use super::ffi;
-use super::{SqliteResult, SqliteError};
+use super::{SqliteResult, SqliteError, str_to_cstring};
 
 const SQLITE_DATETIME_FMT: &'static str = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S";
 
@@ -90,8 +89,11 @@ raw_to_impl!(c_double, sqlite3_bind_double);
 
 impl<'a> ToSql for &'a str {
     unsafe fn bind_parameter(&self, stmt: *mut ffi::sqlite3_stmt, col: c_int) -> c_int {
-        let c_str = CString::from_slice(self.as_bytes());
-        ffi::sqlite3_bind_text(stmt, col, c_str.as_ptr(), -1, Some(ffi::SQLITE_TRANSIENT()))
+        if let Ok(c_str) = str_to_cstring(self) {
+            ffi::sqlite3_bind_text(stmt, col, c_str.as_ptr(), -1, Some(ffi::SQLITE_TRANSIENT()))
+        } else {
+            ffi::SQLITE_MISUSE
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -177,8 +179,7 @@ impl FromSql for String {
         if c_text.is_null() {
             Ok("".to_string())
         } else {
-            let c_text = c_text as *const c_char;
-            let c_slice = std_ffi::c_str_to_bytes(&c_text);
+            let c_slice = CStr::from_ptr(c_text as *const c_char).to_bytes();
             let utf8_str = str::from_utf8(c_slice);
             utf8_str
                 .map(|s| { s.to_string() })