diff --git a/utf8.c b/utf8.c
index 4efef6faf7..5949b4d2d4 100644
--- a/utf8.c
+++ b/utf8.c
@@ -353,4 +353,11 @@ char *reencode_string(const char *in, const char *out_encoding, const char *in_e
 	iconv_close(conv);
 	return out;
 }
+#else
+char *reencode_string(const char *in, const char *out_encoding, const char *in_encoding)
+{
+	if (!in_encoding)
+		return NULL;
+	return xstrdup(in);
+}
 #endif
diff --git a/utf8.h b/utf8.h
index 15db6f1f27..a8b8c2f4da 100644
--- a/utf8.h
+++ b/utf8.h
@@ -7,10 +7,6 @@ int is_encoding_utf8(const char *name);
 
 int print_wrapped_text(const char *text, int indent, int indent2, int len);
 
-#ifndef NO_ICONV
 char *reencode_string(const char *in, const char *out_encoding, const char *in_encoding);
-#else
-#define reencode_string(a,b,c) NULL
-#endif
 
 #endif