diff --git a/gio/glocalfileinfo.c b/gio/glocalfileinfo.c
index db10f342d..6cac187fd 100644
--- a/gio/glocalfileinfo.c
+++ b/gio/glocalfileinfo.c
@@ -305,17 +305,15 @@ name_is_valid (const char *str)
 }
 
 static char *
-hex_escape_string (const char *str, 
+hex_escape_buffer (const char *str,
+                   size_t      len,
                    gboolean   *free_return)
 {
-  int num_invalid, i;
+  size_t num_invalid, i;
   char *escaped_str, *p;
   unsigned char c;
   static char *hex_digits = "0123456789abcdef";
-  int len;
 
-  len = strlen (str);
-  
   num_invalid = 0;
   for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
     {
@@ -351,6 +349,13 @@ hex_escape_string (const char *str,
   return escaped_str;
 }
 
+static char *
+hex_escape_string (const char *str,
+                   gboolean   *free_return)
+{
+  return hex_escape_buffer (str, strlen (str), free_return);
+}
+
 static char *
 hex_unescape_string (const char *str, 
                      int        *out_len, 
@@ -406,7 +411,7 @@ escape_xattr (GFileInfo  *info,
   char *escaped_val;
   gboolean free_escaped_val;
   
-  escaped_val = hex_escape_string (value, &free_escaped_val);
+  escaped_val = hex_escape_buffer (value, len, &free_escaped_val);
   
   g_file_info_set_attribute_string (info, gio_attr, escaped_val);