diff --git a/libs/utils/include/utils/CString.h b/libs/utils/include/utils/CString.h
index 8da2814f66..9ce9a0a445 100644
--- a/libs/utils/include/utils/CString.h
+++ b/libs/utils/include/utils/CString.h
@@ -202,9 +202,14 @@ public:
 
     CString() noexcept = default;
 
-    // cstr must be a null terminated string and length == strlen(cstr)
+    // Allocates memory and appends a null. This constructor can be used to hold arbitrary data
+    // inside the string (i.e. it can contain nulls or non-ASCII encodings).
     CString(const char* cstr, size_t length);
 
+    // Allocates memory and copies traditional C string content. Unlike the above constructor, this
+    // does not alllow embedded nulls. This is explicit because this operation is costly.
+    explicit CString(const char* cstr);
+
     template<size_t N>
     explicit CString(StringLiteral<N> const& other) noexcept // NOLINT(google-explicit-constructor)
             : CString(other, N - 1) {
@@ -219,10 +224,6 @@ public:
     }
 
 
-    // this creates a CString from a null-terminated C string, this allocates memory and copies
-    // its content. this is explicit because this operation is costly.
-    explicit CString(const char* cstr);
-
     CString& operator=(const CString& rhs);
 
     CString& operator=(CString&& rhs) noexcept {
diff --git a/libs/utils/src/CString.cpp b/libs/utils/src/CString.cpp
index 86e24164bb..5955568587 100644
--- a/libs/utils/src/CString.cpp
+++ b/libs/utils/src/CString.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ int StaticString::compare(const StaticString& rhs) const noexcept {
 UTILS_NOINLINE
 CString::CString(const char* cstr, size_t length) {
     if (length && cstr) {
-        assert(length == strlen(cstr));
         Data* p = (Data*)malloc(sizeof(Data) + length + 1);
         p->length = (size_type)length;
         mCStr = (value_type*)(p + 1);