diff --git a/lib/V8/v8-conv.cpp b/lib/V8/v8-conv.cpp
index 704b39657a..b0bbeda2e4 100644
--- a/lib/V8/v8-conv.cpp
+++ b/lib/V8/v8-conv.cpp
@@ -1459,7 +1459,7 @@ TRI_json_t* TRI_ObjectToJson (v8::Handle<v8::Value> parameter) {
     if (*str != 0) {
       TRI_json_t* j = TRI_CreateString2Json(TRI_UNKNOWN_MEM_ZONE, *str, str.length());
       // this passes ownership for the utf8 string to the JSON object
-      str.disown();
+      str.steal();
     
       // the Utf8ValueNFC dtor won't free the string now
       return j;
@@ -1507,7 +1507,7 @@ TRI_json_t* TRI_ObjectToJson (v8::Handle<v8::Value> parameter) {
             // move the string pointer into the JSON object
             TRI_Insert4ArrayJson(TRI_UNKNOWN_MEM_ZONE, arrayJson, *str, str.length(), result, false);
             // this passes ownership for the utf8 string to the JSON object
-            str.disown();
+            str.steal();
           }
 
           TRI_Free(TRI_UNKNOWN_MEM_ZONE, result);
diff --git a/lib/V8/v8-utils.h b/lib/V8/v8-utils.h
index f3d71c1df0..c5ad1b9924 100644
--- a/lib/V8/v8-utils.h
+++ b/lib/V8/v8-utils.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class TRI_Utf8ValueNFC {
     char* operator* () { return _str; }
     const char* operator* () const { return _str; }
     size_t length () const { return _length; }
-    void disown () { _str = 0; }
+    char* steal () { char* tmp = _str; _str = 0; return tmp; }
   private:
     char* _str;
     size_t _length;