diff --git a/src/cheat/CheatManager.cxx b/src/cheat/CheatManager.cxx
index 7f17f5bda..50e30e4c6 100644
--- a/src/cheat/CheatManager.cxx
+++ b/src/cheat/CheatManager.cxx
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ void CheatManager::enable(const string& code, bool enable)
 void CheatManager::loadCheatDatabase()
 {
   const string& cheatfile = myOSystem.cheatFile();
-  ifstream in(cheatfile.c_str());
+  ifstream in(cheatfile);
   if(!in)
     return;
 
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ void CheatManager::saveCheatDatabase()
     return;
 
   const string& cheatfile = myOSystem.cheatFile();
-  ofstream out(cheatfile.c_str());
+  ofstream out(cheatfile);
   if(!out)
     return;
 
diff --git a/src/common/PNGLibrary.cxx b/src/common/PNGLibrary.cxx
index 14c905279..8646ed99a 100644
--- a/src/common/PNGLibrary.cxx
+++ b/src/common/PNGLibrary.cxx
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void PNGLibrary::loadImage(const string& filename, FBSurface& surface)
   int bit_depth, color_type, interlace_type;
   const char* err_message = nullptr;
 
-  ifstream in(filename.c_str(), ios_base::binary);
+  ifstream in(filename, ios_base::binary);
   if(!in.is_open())
     loadImageERROR("No image found");
 
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ done:
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 void PNGLibrary::saveImage(const string& filename, const VariantList& comments)
 {
-  ofstream out(filename.c_str(), ios_base::binary);
+  ofstream out(filename, ios_base::binary);
   if(!out.is_open())
     throw "ERROR: Couldn't create snapshot file";
 
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ void PNGLibrary::saveImage(const string& filename, const VariantList& comments)
 void PNGLibrary::saveImage(const string& filename, const FBSurface& surface,
                            const GUI::Rect& rect, const VariantList& comments)
 {
-  ofstream out(filename.c_str(), ios_base::binary);
+  ofstream out(filename, ios_base::binary);
   if(!out.is_open())
     throw "ERROR: Couldn't create snapshot file";
 
diff --git a/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx b/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx
index f8c1711b3..b341e905d 100644
--- a/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx
+++ b/src/debugger/CartDebug.cxx
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ string CartDebug::loadListFile()
   }
 
   FilesystemNode node(myListFile);
-  ifstream in(node.getPath().c_str());
+  ifstream in(node.getPath());
   if(!in.is_open())
     return DebuggerParser::red("list file '" + node.getShortPath() + "' not readable");
 
@@ -753,7 +753,7 @@ string CartDebug::loadSymbolFile()
   }
 
   FilesystemNode node(mySymbolFile);
-  ifstream in(node.getPath().c_str());
+  ifstream in(node.getPath());
   if(!in.is_open())
     return DebuggerParser::red("symbol file '" + node.getShortPath() + "' not readable");
 
@@ -818,7 +818,7 @@ string CartDebug::loadConfigFile()
   }
 
   FilesystemNode node(myCfgFile);
-  ifstream in(node.getPath().c_str());
+  ifstream in(node.getPath());
   if(!in.is_open())
     return "Unable to load directives from " + node.getPath();
 
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@ string CartDebug::saveConfigFile()
   const string& name = myConsole.properties().get(Cartridge_Name);
   const string& md5 = myConsole.properties().get(Cartridge_MD5);
 
-  ofstream out(node.getPath().c_str());
+  ofstream out(node.getPath());
   if(!out.is_open())
     return "Unable to save directives to " + node.getShortPath();
 
@@ -964,7 +964,7 @@ string CartDebug::saveDisassembly()
   }
 
   FilesystemNode node(myDisasmFile);
-  ofstream out(node.getPath().c_str());
+  ofstream out(node.getPath());
   if(!out.is_open())
     return "Unable to save disassembly to " + node.getShortPath();
 
@@ -1154,7 +1154,7 @@ string CartDebug::saveRom()
     myConsole.properties().get(Cartridge_Name) + ".a26";
 
   FilesystemNode node(path);
-  ofstream out(node.getPath().c_str(), ios::binary);
+  ofstream out(node.getPath(), ios::binary);
   if(out.is_open() && myConsole.cartridge().save(out))
     return "saved ROM as " + node.getShortPath();
   else
diff --git a/src/debugger/DebuggerParser.cxx b/src/debugger/DebuggerParser.cxx
index e44f7d26f..3646afeab 100644
--- a/src/debugger/DebuggerParser.cxx
+++ b/src/debugger/DebuggerParser.cxx
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ string DebuggerParser::exec(const FilesystemNode& file)
 {
   if(file.exists())
   {
-    ifstream in(file.getPath().c_str());
+    ifstream in(file.getPath());
     if(!in.is_open())
       return red("autoexec file \'" + file.getShortPath() + "\' not found");
 
@@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ bool DebuggerParser::saveScriptFile(string file)
     file += ".stella";
   }
 
-  ofstream out(file.c_str());
+  ofstream out(file);
 
   FunctionDefMap funcs = debugger.getFunctionDefMap();
   for(const auto& i: funcs)
diff --git a/src/debugger/gui/PromptWidget.cxx b/src/debugger/gui/PromptWidget.cxx
index 030cc17ad..18120d691 100644
--- a/src/debugger/gui/PromptWidget.cxx
+++ b/src/debugger/gui/PromptWidget.cxx
@@ -850,7 +850,7 @@ void PromptWidget::scrollToCurrent()
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 bool PromptWidget::saveBuffer(string& filename)
 {
-  ofstream out(filename.c_str());
+  ofstream out(filename);
   if(!out.is_open())
     return false;
 
diff --git a/src/emucore/Console.cxx b/src/emucore/Console.cxx
index 6579b4267..88ce3cab0 100644
--- a/src/emucore/Console.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/Console.cxx
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ void Console::setControllers(const string& rommd5)
 void Console::loadUserPalette()
 {
   const string& palette = myOSystem.paletteFile();
-  ifstream in(palette.c_str(), ios::binary);
+  ifstream in(palette, ios::binary);
   if(!in)
     return;
 
diff --git a/src/emucore/EventHandler.cxx b/src/emucore/EventHandler.cxx
index 79b0dc37f..46de507d1 100644
--- a/src/emucore/EventHandler.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/EventHandler.cxx
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ void EventHandler::handleKeyEvent(StellaKey key, StellaMod mod, bool state)
         {
           string filename = myOSystem.baseDir() +
               myOSystem.console().properties().get(Cartridge_Name) + ".pro";
-          ofstream out(filename.c_str());
+          ofstream out(filename);
           if(out)
           {
             out << myOSystem.console().properties();
diff --git a/src/emucore/MT24LC256.cxx b/src/emucore/MT24LC256.cxx
index 0c910eacd..00a9e1715 100644
--- a/src/emucore/MT24LC256.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/MT24LC256.cxx
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@ MT24LC256::MT24LC256(const string& filename, const System& system)
     jpee_ad_known(0)
 {
   // Load the data from an external file (if it exists)
-  ifstream in;
-  in.open(myDataFile.c_str(), ios_base::binary);
+  ifstream in(myDataFile, ios_base::binary);
   if(in.is_open())
   {
     // Get length of file; it must be 32768
@@ -99,7 +98,7 @@ MT24LC256::~MT24LC256()
   // Save EEPROM data to external file only when necessary
   if(!myDataFileExists || myDataChanged)
   {
-    ofstream out(myDataFile.c_str(), ios_base::binary);
+    ofstream out(myDataFile, ios_base::binary);
     if(out.is_open())
       out.write((char*)myData, 32768);
   }
diff --git a/src/emucore/PropsSet.cxx b/src/emucore/PropsSet.cxx
index 1eb66d7c5..7b2197517 100644
--- a/src/emucore/PropsSet.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/PropsSet.cxx
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ PropertiesSet::PropertiesSet(const string& propsfile)
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 void PropertiesSet::load(const string& filename)
 {
-  ifstream in(filename.c_str());
+  ifstream in(filename);
 
   // Loop reading properties
   for(;;)
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ void PropertiesSet::load(const string& filename)
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 bool PropertiesSet::save(const string& filename) const
 {
-  ofstream out(filename.c_str());
+  ofstream out(filename);
   if(!out)
     return false;
 
diff --git a/src/emucore/Serializer.cxx b/src/emucore/Serializer.cxx
index bf72996f9..eefe99bfe 100644
--- a/src/emucore/Serializer.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/Serializer.cxx
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Serializer::Serializer(const string& filename, bool readonly)
     FilesystemNode node(filename);
     if(node.isFile() && node.isReadable())
     {
-      unique_ptr<fstream> str = make_ptr<fstream>(filename.c_str(), ios::in | ios::binary);
+      unique_ptr<fstream> str = make_ptr<fstream>(filename, ios::in | ios::binary);
       if(str && str->is_open())
       {
         myStream = std::move(str);
@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@ Serializer::Serializer(const string& filename, bool readonly)
     // So we open in write and append mode - the write creates the file
     // when necessary, and the append doesn't delete any data if it
     // already exists
-    fstream temp(filename.c_str(), ios::out | ios::app);
+    fstream temp(filename, ios::out | ios::app);
     temp.close();
 
-    unique_ptr<fstream> str = make_ptr<fstream>(filename.c_str(), ios::in | ios::out | ios::binary);
+    unique_ptr<fstream> str = make_ptr<fstream>(filename, ios::in | ios::out | ios::binary);
     if(str && str->is_open())
     {
       myStream = std::move(str);
diff --git a/src/emucore/Settings.cxx b/src/emucore/Settings.cxx
index 838a566b8..3098607cf 100644
--- a/src/emucore/Settings.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/Settings.cxx
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ void Settings::loadConfig()
   string line, key, value;
   string::size_type equalPos, garbage;
 
-  ifstream in(myOSystem.configFile().c_str());
+  ifstream in(myOSystem.configFile());
   if(!in || !in.is_open())
   {
     myOSystem.logMessage("ERROR: Couldn't load settings file", 0);
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ void Settings::saveConfig()
   if(!settingsChanged)
     return;
 
-  ofstream out(myOSystem.configFile().c_str());
+  ofstream out(myOSystem.configFile());
   if(!out || !out.is_open())
   {
     myOSystem.logMessage("ERROR: Couldn't save settings file", 0);
diff --git a/src/gui/LoggerDialog.cxx b/src/gui/LoggerDialog.cxx
index a0a26c95c..cfcbf90c2 100644
--- a/src/gui/LoggerDialog.cxx
+++ b/src/gui/LoggerDialog.cxx
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ void LoggerDialog::saveLogFile()
   path << "~" << BSPF_PATH_SEPARATOR << "stella.log";
   FilesystemNode node(path.str());
 
-  ofstream out(node.getPath().c_str());
+  ofstream out(node.getPath());
   if(out.is_open())
     out << instance().logMessages();
 }
diff --git a/src/windows/OSystemWINDOWS.cxx b/src/windows/OSystemWINDOWS.cxx
index 01ea9d0bc..92aeb4ee4 100644
--- a/src/windows/OSystemWINDOWS.cxx
+++ b/src/windows/OSystemWINDOWS.cxx
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ OSystemWINDOWS::OSystemWINDOWS()
   FilesystemNode basedirfile("basedir.txt");
   if(basedirfile.exists())
   {
-    ifstream in(basedirfile.getPath().c_str());
+    ifstream in(basedirfile.getPath());
     if(in && in.is_open())
     {
       getline(in, basedir);