diff --git a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base.hs b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base.hs
index 7fc5343..5ed6a0e 100644
--- a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base.hs
+++ b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base.hs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ decodeWith Base16 = lDecode  -- this tacit sugar simply makes GHC pleased with n
   lDecode t =
     case Base16.decode (T.encodeUtf8 t) of
       (x, "") -> pure $ x
-      _       -> Left $ "Unable to decode base16 string" <> T.unpack t
+      _       -> Left $ "Unable to decode base16 string" <> toString t
 #endif
 decodeWith NixBase32 = Base32.decode
 decodeWith Base64 = Base64.decode . T.encodeUtf8
diff --git a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base32.hs b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base32.hs
index 60a30b5..bc35f22 100644
--- a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base32.hs
+++ b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Base32.hs
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ unsafeDecode what =
         (\c -> fromMaybe (error "character not in digits32")
           $ Vector.findIndex (== c) digits32
         )
-        (Data.Text.unpack what)
+        (toString what)
     of
       [(i, _)] -> pure $ padded $ integerToBS i
       x        -> Left $ "Can't decode: readInt returned " <> show x
diff --git a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Hash.hs b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Hash.hs
index 28a60de..7ac3c49 100644
--- a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Hash.hs
+++ b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Hash.hs
@@ -49,27 +49,27 @@ data SomeNamedDigest = forall a . NamedAlgo a => SomeDigest (C.Digest a)
 
 instance Show SomeNamedDigest where
   show sd = case sd of
-    SomeDigest (digest :: C.Digest hashType) -> T.unpack $ "SomeDigest " <> algoName @hashType <> ":" <> encodeDigestWith NixBase32 digest
+    SomeDigest (digest :: C.Digest hashType) -> toString $ "SomeDigest " <> algoName @hashType <> ":" <> encodeDigestWith NixBase32 digest
 
 mkNamedDigest :: Text -> Text -> Either String SomeNamedDigest
 mkNamedDigest name sriHash =
   let (sriName, h) = T.breakOnEnd "-" sriHash in
     if sriName == "" || sriName == name <> "-"
     then mkDigest h
-    else Left $ T.unpack $ "Sri hash method " <> sriName <> " does not match the required hash type " <> name
+    else Left $ toString $ "Sri hash method " <> sriName <> " does not match the required hash type " <> name
  where
   mkDigest h = case name of
     "md5"    -> SomeDigest <$> decodeGo C.MD5    h
     "sha1"   -> SomeDigest <$> decodeGo C.SHA1   h
     "sha256" -> SomeDigest <$> decodeGo C.SHA256 h
     "sha512" -> SomeDigest <$> decodeGo C.SHA512 h
-    _        -> Left $ "Unknown hash name: " <> T.unpack name
+    _        -> Left $ "Unknown hash name: " <> toString name
   decodeGo :: forall a . NamedAlgo a => a -> Text -> Either String (C.Digest a)
   decodeGo a h
     | size == base16Len = decodeDigestWith Base16 h
     | size == base32Len = decodeDigestWith NixBase32 h
     | size == base64Len = decodeDigestWith Base64 h
-    | otherwise = Left $ T.unpack sriHash <> " is not a valid " <> T.unpack name <> " hash. Its length (" <> show size <> ") does not match any of " <> show [base16Len, base32Len, base64Len]
+    | otherwise = Left $ toString sriHash <> " is not a valid " <> toString name <> " hash. Its length (" <> show size <> ") does not match any of " <> show [base16Len, base32Len, base64Len]
    where
     size = T.length h
     hsize = C.hashDigestSize a
diff --git a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Nar/Parser.hs b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Nar/Parser.hs
index 2fb6577..f92e3cf 100644
--- a/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Nar/Parser.hs
+++ b/hnix-store-core/src/System/Nix/Internal/Nar/Parser.hs
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ parseSymlink = do
   (dir, file) <- currentDirectoryAndFile
   pushLink $
     LinkInfo
-      { linkTarget = Text.unpack target
+      { linkTarget = toString target
       , linkFile   = file
       , linkPWD    = dir
       }
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ parseDirectory = do
     parens $ do
       expectStr "name"
       fName <- parseStr
-      pushFileName (Text.unpack fName)
+      pushFileName (toString fName)
       expectStr "node"
       parens parseFSO
       popFileName