diff --git a/src/uu/printf/src/printf.rs b/src/uu/printf/src/printf.rs
index e9f38d38b12..db25d635ebe 100644
--- a/src/uu/printf/src/printf.rs
+++ b/src/uu/printf/src/printf.rs
@@ -36,28 +36,21 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> UResult<()> {
     let format = format.as_bytes();
 
     #[cfg(windows)]
-    let format_vec: Vec<u8> = format
-        .encode_wide()
-        .flat_map(|wchar| wchar.to_le_bytes())
-        .collect();
-    #[cfg(windows)]
-    let format = format_vec.as_slice();
+    let format = as_os_str().as_bytes_lossy();
 
     let values: Vec<_> = match matches.get_many::<std::ffi::OsString>(options::ARGUMENT) {
         Some(s) => s
             .map(|os_str| {
-                #[cfg(unix)]
                 let raw_bytes: Vec<u8> = os_str.clone().into_vec();
-
+                #[cfg(unix)]
+                {
+                    FormatArgument::Unparsed(
+                        String::from_utf8(raw_bytes.clone())
+                            .unwrap_or_else(|_| raw_bytes.iter().map(|&b| b as char).collect()),
+                    )
+                }
                 #[cfg(windows)]
-                let raw_bytes: Vec<u8> = os_str
-                    .encode_wide()
-                    .flat_map(|wchar| wchar.to_le_bytes())
-                    .collect();
-                FormatArgument::Unparsed(
-                    String::from_utf8(raw_bytes.clone())
-                        .unwrap_or_else(|_| raw_bytes.iter().map(|&b| b as char).collect()),
-                )
+                FormatArgument::Unparsed(String::from_utf8_lossy(&raw_bytes).into_owned())
             })
             .collect(),
         None => vec![],