diff --git a/src/lib/src/bitmap_io.cpp b/src/lib/src/bitmap_io.cpp
index 0afdb21..fabfda3 100644
--- a/src/lib/src/bitmap_io.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/src/bitmap_io.cpp
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ struct BitmapIO::Impl {
 
             // moving to C++23 this should be replaced with
             // std::expected
-            auto data = read(asset_filepath.c_str());
+            auto data = read(asset_filepath.generic_string());
 
             cache_[filename] = data;
         }
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ void BitmapIO::set_path(std::string_view path)
 
 std::string BitmapIO::path() const
 {
-    return impl_->asset_path_;
+    return impl_->asset_path_.generic_string();
 }