diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/LdapShaPasswordEncoder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/LdapShaPasswordEncoder.java
index 85553d56c8..fce56502f4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/LdapShaPasswordEncoder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/LdapShaPasswordEncoder.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
 
 import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Base64;
+import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Utf8;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ public class LdapShaPasswordEncoder implements PasswordEncoder {
             prefix = forceLowerCasePrefix ? SSHA_PREFIX_LC : SSHA_PREFIX;
         }
 
-        return prefix + new String(Base64.encode(hash));
+        return prefix + Utf8.decode(Base64.encode(hash));
     }
 
     private byte[] extractSalt(String encPass) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/Md4PasswordEncoder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/Md4PasswordEncoder.java
index e7479b8cd9..e559ee2071 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/Md4PasswordEncoder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/Md4PasswordEncoder.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 
 import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Base64;
 import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Hex;
+import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Utf8;
 
 /**
  * MD4 implementation of PasswordEncoder.
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ public class Md4PasswordEncoder extends BaseDigestPasswordEncoder {
         byte[] resBuf = md4.digest();
 
         if (getEncodeHashAsBase64()) {
-            return new String(Base64.encode(resBuf));
+            return Utf8.decode(Base64.encode(resBuf));
         } else {
             return new String(Hex.encode(resBuf));
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/MessageDigestPasswordEncoder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/MessageDigestPasswordEncoder.java
index 9ecd7a7dc8..af17e25a58 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/MessageDigestPasswordEncoder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/authentication/encoding/MessageDigestPasswordEncoder.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
 
 import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Base64;
 import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Hex;
+import org.springframework.security.crypto.codec.Utf8;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 /**
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ public class MessageDigestPasswordEncoder extends BaseDigestPasswordEncoder {
         }
 
         if (getEncodeHashAsBase64()) {
-            return new String(Base64.encode(digest));
+            return Utf8.decode(Base64.encode(digest));
         } else {
             return new String(Hex.encode(digest));
         }