diff --git a/include/etl/basic_string.h b/include/etl/basic_string.h
index bae3d516..b3425bf4 100644
--- a/include/etl/basic_string.h
+++ b/include/etl/basic_string.h
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ SOFTWARE.
 #include "algorithm.h"
 #include "iterator.h"
 #include "functional.h"
-#include "char_traits.h"
 #include "alignment.h"
 #include "array.h"
 #include "type_traits.h"
@@ -2697,39 +2696,6 @@ namespace etl
       return to;
     }
 
-    //*********************************************************************
-    /// get_string_length, optimised for sizeof(U) == sizeof(char).
-    //*********************************************************************
-    template <typename U>
-    static
-    typename etl::enable_if<sizeof(U) == sizeof(char), size_t>::type 
-      get_string_length(const U* src)
-    {
-      return ::strlen(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(src));
-    }
-
-    //*********************************************************************
-    /// get_string_length, optimised for sizeof(U) == sizeof(wchar_t).
-    //*********************************************************************
-    template <typename U>
-    static
-    typename etl::enable_if<sizeof(U) == sizeof(wchar_t), size_t>::type
-      get_string_length(const U* src)
-    {
-      return ::wcslen(reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t*>(src));
-    }
-
-    //*********************************************************************
-    /// get_string_length, optimised for anything else.
-    //*********************************************************************
-    template <typename U>
-    static
-    typename etl::enable_if<(sizeof(U) != sizeof(char)) && (sizeof(U) != sizeof(wchar_t)), size_t>::type 
-      get_string_length(const U* src)
-    {
-      return etl::strlen(src);
-    }
-
     //*********************************************************************
     /// Common implementation for 'assign' and 'append' for iterators.
     //*********************************************************************
@@ -2860,6 +2826,57 @@ namespace etl
         return size() - sz - etl::distance(rbegin(), iposition);
       }
     }
+
+    //*********************************************************************
+    /// get_string_length, optimised for sizeof(U) == sizeof(char).
+    //*********************************************************************
+    template <typename U>
+    static
+    typename etl::enable_if<sizeof(U) == sizeof(char), size_t>::type 
+      get_string_length(const U* str)
+    {
+      return ::strlen(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(str));
+    }
+
+#if ETL_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS
+    //*********************************************************************
+    /// get_string_length, optimised for sizeof(U) == sizeof(wchar_t).
+    //*********************************************************************
+    template <typename U>
+    static
+    typename etl::enable_if<sizeof(U) == sizeof(wchar_t), size_t>::type
+      get_string_length(const U* str)
+    {
+      return ::wcslen(reinterpret_cast<const wchar_t*>(str));
+    }
+#endif
+
+    //*********************************************************************
+    /// get_string_length, optimised for anything else.
+    //*********************************************************************
+    template <typename U>
+    static
+#if ETL_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS
+    typename etl::enable_if<(sizeof(U) != sizeof(char)) && (sizeof(U) != sizeof(wchar_t)), size_t>::type
+#else
+    typename etl::enable_if<(sizeof(U) != sizeof(char)), size_t>::type
+#endif
+      get_string_length(const U* str)
+    {
+      if (str == ETL_NULLPTR)
+      {
+        return 0;
+      }
+
+      const U* end = str;
+
+      while (*end++ != 0)
+      {
+        // Do nothing.
+      }
+
+      return size_t(end - str) - 1;
+    }
   };
 
   //***************************************************************************
@@ -3117,6 +3134,8 @@ namespace etl
 #endif
 }
 
+#undef ETL_USING_WCHAR_T_H
+
 #include "private/minmax_pop.h"
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/etl/platform.h b/include/etl/platform.h
index 045a59c1..340d1fbe 100644
--- a/include/etl/platform.h
+++ b/include/etl/platform.h
@@ -138,6 +138,16 @@ SOFTWARE.
   #define ETL_NOT_USING_64BIT_TYPES 0
 #endif
 
+//*************************************
+// For when the runtime library is compiled without wchar_t support.
+#if defined(ETL_NO_WIDE_CHARACTERS)
+  #define ETL_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS     0
+  #define ETL_NOT_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS 1
+#else
+  #define ETL_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS     1
+  #define ETL_NOT_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS 0
+#endif
+
 //*************************************
 // Figure out things about the compiler, if haven't already done so in etl_profile.h
 #include "profiles/determine_compiler_version.h"
@@ -559,6 +569,7 @@ namespace etl
     static ETL_CONSTANT bool using_generic_compiler           = (ETL_USING_GENERIC_COMPILER == 1);
     static ETL_CONSTANT bool using_legacy_bitset              = (ETL_USING_LEGACY_BITSET == 1);
     static ETL_CONSTANT bool using_exceptions                 = (ETL_USING_EXCEPTIONS == 1);
+    static ETL_CONSTANT bool using_wide_characters            = (ETL_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS == 1);
     
     // Has...
     static ETL_CONSTANT bool has_initializer_list             = (ETL_HAS_INITIALIZER_LIST == 1);
diff --git a/test/test_etl_traits.cpp b/test/test_etl_traits.cpp
index 1c6cb48c..6adf725d 100644
--- a/test/test_etl_traits.cpp
+++ b/test/test_etl_traits.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ namespace
   {
     TEST(test_traits_values)
     {
+      // Using...
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_STL == 1),                        etl::traits::using_stl);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_STLPORT == 1),                    etl::traits::using_stlport);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_CPP11 == 1),                      etl::traits::using_cpp11);
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ namespace
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_CPP20 == 1),                      etl::traits::using_cpp20);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_CPP23 == 1),                      etl::traits::using_cpp23);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_EXCEPTIONS == 1),                 etl::traits::using_exceptions);
+      CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_WIDE_CHARACTERS == 1),            etl::traits::using_wide_characters);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_GCC_COMPILER == 1),               etl::traits::using_gcc_compiler);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_MICROSOFT_COMPILER == 1),         etl::traits::using_microsoft_compiler);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_ARM5_COMPILER == 1),              etl::traits::using_arm5_compiler);
@@ -60,9 +62,10 @@ namespace
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_INTEL_COMPILER == 1),             etl::traits::using_intel_compiler);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_TEXAS_INSTRUMENTS_COMPILER == 1), etl::traits::using_texas_instruments_compiler);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_GENERIC_COMPILER == 1),           etl::traits::using_generic_compiler);
-
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_8BIT_TYPES == 1),                 etl::traits::has_8bit_types);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_USING_64BIT_TYPES == 1),                etl::traits::has_64bit_types);
+
+      // Has...
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_HAS_ATOMIC == 1),                       etl::traits::has_atomic);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_HAS_MUTEX == 1),                        etl::traits::has_mutex);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_HAS_NULLPTR == 1),                      etl::traits::has_nullptr);
@@ -80,7 +83,10 @@ namespace
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_HAS_VIRTUAL_MESSAGES == 1),             etl::traits::has_virtual_messages);
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_HAS_PACKED == 1),                       etl::traits::has_packed);
 
+      // Is...
       CHECK_EQUAL((ETL_IS_DEBUG_BUILD == 1),                   etl::traits::is_debug_build);
+
+      // Other
       CHECK_EQUAL(__cplusplus,                                 etl::traits::cplusplus);
       CHECK_EQUAL(ETL_VERSION_MAJOR,                           etl::traits::version_major);
       CHECK_EQUAL(ETL_VERSION_MINOR,                           etl::traits::version_minor);