diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/ASN1.java b/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/ASN1.java
index f2bb0cde..d89bc950 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/ASN1.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/ASN1.java
@@ -1695,13 +1695,13 @@ ASN1Encodable toASN1(final ThreadContext context) {
             }
 
             if ( type == DERGeneralString.class ) {
-                return new DERGeneralString( val.asString().toString() );
+                return ASN1GeneralString.getInstance( val.asString().getBytes() );
             }
             if ( type == DERVisibleString.class ) {
-                return new DERVisibleString( val.asString().toString() );
+                return ASN1VisibleString.getInstance( val.asString().getBytes() );
             }
             if ( type == DERNumericString.class ) {
-                return new DERNumericString( val.asString().toString() );
+                return ASN1NumericString.getInstance( val.asString().getBytes() );
             }
 
             if ( val instanceof RubyString ) {