diff --git a/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/packetmodsource.cpp b/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/packetmodsource.cpp
index 63ae3b7fe..834b4d2b8 100644
--- a/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/packetmodsource.cpp
+++ b/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/packetmodsource.cpp
@@ -592,8 +592,9 @@ void PacketModSource::addTXPacket(QString callsign, QString to, QString via, QSt
     // PID
     *p++ = m_settings.m_ax25PID;
     // Data
-    len = data.length();
-    memcpy(p, data.toUtf8(), len);
+    QByteArray dataBytes = data.toUtf8();
+    len = dataBytes.length();
+    memcpy(p, dataBytes, len);
     p += len;
     // CRC (do not include flags)
     crc.calculate(crc_start, p-crc_start);
diff --git a/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/readme.md b/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/readme.md
index c38e07f56..21af80f69 100644
--- a/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/readme.md
+++ b/plugins/channeltx/modpacket/readme.md
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Enter the routing for the packet. To have the packet repeated by digipeaters, us
 
 <h3>16: Data</h3>
 
-The packet of data to send. To send an APRS status message, use the format <tt>>Status</tt>. The APRS specification can be found at: http://www.aprs.org/doc/APRS101.PDF. APRS messages can be tracked on https://aprs.fi
+The packet of data to send. This is encoded using UTF-8. To send an APRS status message, use the format <tt>>Status</tt>. The APRS specification can be found at: http://www.aprs.org/doc/APRS101.PDF. APRS messages can be tracked on https://aprs.fi
 
 <h3>17: TX</h3>