diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 049ae0ce6..f906899b6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
   state.
 
 ### Changed
-
+- Enabled UTF-8 support for `str` objects.
 - The method `DriveBase.angle()` now returns a float ([support#1844]). This
   makes it properly equivalent to `hub.imu.heading`.
 - Re-implemented tilt using the gyro data by default. Pure accelerometer tilt
diff --git a/bricks/_common/mpconfigport.h b/bricks/_common/mpconfigport.h
index d345f4df3..4deebdc7f 100644
--- a/bricks/_common/mpconfigport.h
+++ b/bricks/_common/mpconfigport.h
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@
 #define MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_SLICE               (PYBRICKS_OPT_EXTRA_LEVEL1)
 #define MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_PROPERTY            (0)
 #define MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_MIN_MAX             (1)
+#define MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_STR_UNICODE         (PYBRICKS_OPT_EXTRA_LEVEL2)
 #define MICROPY_PY___FILE__                     (0)
 #define MICROPY_PY_MICROPYTHON_MEM_INFO         (1)
 #define MICROPY_PY_GC                           (PYBRICKS_OPT_EXTRA_LEVEL1)