diff --git a/docs/reference/glib/glib-sections.txt b/docs/reference/glib/glib-sections.txt
index d2e985e68..583b12765 100644
--- a/docs/reference/glib/glib-sections.txt
+++ b/docs/reference/glib/glib-sections.txt
@@ -2326,6 +2326,7 @@ g_string_erase
 g_string_truncate
 g_string_set_size
 g_string_free
+g_string_free_to_bytes
 
 <SUBSECTION>
 g_string_up
diff --git a/glib/glib.symbols b/glib/glib.symbols
index d5c1fc6a9..7f7a5ced3 100644
--- a/glib/glib.symbols
+++ b/glib/glib.symbols
@@ -1084,6 +1084,7 @@ g_string_chunk_new
 g_string_equal
 g_string_erase
 g_string_free
+g_string_free_to_bytes
 g_string_hash
 g_string_insert
 g_string_insert_c
diff --git a/glib/gstring.c b/glib/gstring.c
index 9fac86cbd..9473f0109 100644
--- a/glib/gstring.c
+++ b/glib/gstring.c
@@ -50,12 +50,17 @@
  * @short_description: text buffers which grow automatically
  *     as text is added
  *
- * A #GString is an object that handles the memory management
- * of a C string for you. You can think of it as similar to a
- * Java StringBuffer. In addition to the string itself, GString
- * stores the length of the string, so can be used for binary
- * data with embedded nul bytes. To access the C string managed
- * by the GString @string, simply use @string->str.
+ * A #GString is an object that handles the memory management of a C
+ * string for you.  The emphasis of #GString is on text, typically
+ * UTF-8.  Crucially, the "str" member of a #GString is guaranteed to
+ * have a trailing nul character, and it is therefore always safe to
+ * call functions such as strchr() or g_strdup() on it.
+ *
+ * However, a #GString can also hold arbitrary binary data, because it
+ * has a "len" member, which includes any possible embedded nul
+ * characters in the data.  Conceptually then, #GString is like a
+ * #GByteArray with the addition of many convenience methods for text,
+ * and a guaranteed nul terminator.
  */
 
 /**
@@ -226,6 +231,37 @@ g_string_free (GString  *string,
   return segment;
 }
 
+/**
+ * g_string_free_to_bytes:
+ * @string: (transfer full): a #GString
+ *
+ * Transfers ownership of the contents of @string to a newly allocated
+ * #GBytes.  The #GString structure itself is deallocated, and it is
+ * therefore invalid to use @string after invoking this function.
+ *
+ * Note that while #GString ensures that its buffer always has a
+ * trailing nul character (not reflected in its "len"), the returned
+ * #GBytes does not include this extra nul; i.e. it has length exactly
+ * equal to the "len" member.
+ *
+ * Returns: A newly allocated #GBytes containing contents of @string; @string itself is freed
+ * Since: 2.34
+ */
+GBytes*
+g_string_free_to_bytes (GString *string)
+{
+  gsize len;
+  gchar *buf;
+
+  g_return_val_if_fail (string != NULL, NULL);
+
+  len = string->len;
+
+  buf = g_string_free (string, FALSE);
+
+  return g_bytes_new_take (buf, len);
+}
+
 /**
  * g_string_equal:
  * @v: a #GString
diff --git a/glib/gstring.h b/glib/gstring.h
index 079734343..75434908a 100644
--- a/glib/gstring.h
+++ b/glib/gstring.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 
 #include <glib/gtypes.h>
 #include <glib/gunicode.h>
+#include <glib/gbytes.h>
 #include <glib/gutils.h>  /* for G_CAN_INLINE */
 
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
@@ -52,6 +53,8 @@ GString*     g_string_new_len           (const gchar     *init,
 GString*     g_string_sized_new         (gsize            dfl_size);
 gchar*       g_string_free              (GString         *string,
                                          gboolean         free_segment);
+GLIB_AVAILABLE_IN_2_34
+GBytes*      g_string_free_to_bytes     (GString         *string);
 gboolean     g_string_equal             (const GString   *v,
                                          const GString   *v2);
 guint        g_string_hash              (const GString   *str);
diff --git a/glib/tests/string.c b/glib/tests/string.c
index 19cb8316d..11c8da7d8 100644
--- a/glib/tests/string.c
+++ b/glib/tests/string.c
@@ -472,6 +472,26 @@ test_string_set_size (void)
   g_string_free (s, TRUE);
 }
 
+static void
+test_string_to_bytes (void)
+{
+  GString *s;
+  GBytes *bytes;
+  gconstpointer byte_data;
+  gsize byte_len;
+
+  s = g_string_new ("foo");
+  g_string_append (s, "-bar");
+
+  bytes = g_string_free_to_bytes (s);
+
+  byte_data = g_bytes_get_data (bytes, &byte_len);
+
+  g_assert_cmpint (byte_len, ==, 7);
+
+  g_assert_cmpint (memcmp (byte_data, "foo-bar", byte_len), ==, 0);
+}
+
 int
 main (int   argc,
       char *argv[])
@@ -495,6 +515,7 @@ main (int   argc,
   g_test_add_func ("/string/test-string-nul-handling", test_string_nul_handling);
   g_test_add_func ("/string/test-string-up-down", test_string_up_down);
   g_test_add_func ("/string/test-string-set-size", test_string_set_size);
+  g_test_add_func ("/string/test-string-to-bytes", test_string_to_bytes);
 
   return g_test_run();
 }