diff --git a/src/gui/core/preferences.cc b/src/gui/core/preferences.cc
index 57d56159..0e47bcec 100644
--- a/src/gui/core/preferences.cc
+++ b/src/gui/core/preferences.cc
@@ -150,11 +150,11 @@ double Preferences::getDouble(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,do
     return def;
 }
 
-std::string Preferences::getString(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,const char*def){
+std::string Preferences::getString(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,const std::string&def){
     auto sec=mPrefs.find(section);
     if(sec==mPrefs.end())return def;
     auto kv=sec->second.find(key);
-    if(kv==sec->second.end())return std::string(def);
+    if(kv==sec->second.end())return def;
     return kv->second;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/gui/core/preferences.h b/src/gui/core/preferences.h
index 06dc9485..30af5f4b 100644
--- a/src/gui/core/preferences.h
+++ b/src/gui/core/preferences.h
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ public:
    int getInt(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,int def=0);
    float getFloat(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,float def=.0);
    double getDouble(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,double def=.0);
-   std::string getString(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,const char*);
+   std::string getString(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,const std::string&def="");
 
    void setValue(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,bool v);
    void setValue(const std::string&section,const std::string&key,int v);
diff --git a/tests/gui/preference_tests.cc b/tests/gui/preference_tests.cc
index ba299664..d463cb47 100755
--- a/tests/gui/preference_tests.cc
+++ b/tests/gui/preference_tests.cc
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ public :
    virtual void TearDown(){
    }
 };
-
 TEST_F(PREFERENCES,setbool){
    Preferences pref;
    pref.setValue("Video","width",false);
@@ -51,13 +50,15 @@ TEST_F(PREFERENCES,setdouble){
    ASSERT_DOUBLE_EQ(1800.123,pref.getDouble("Video","width",0.f));
    pref.save("testdouble.pref");
 }
+
 TEST_F(PREFERENCES,setstring){
    Preferences pref;
    pref.setValue("Video","url","url1");
    pref.setValue("Video","url","url2");
-   EXPECT_STREQ("url2",pref.getString("Video","url",""));
+   EXPECT_STREQ("url2",pref.getString("Video","url","").c_str());
    pref.save("teststr.pref");
 }
+
 TEST_F(PREFERENCES,strings){
    Preferences pref,pld;
    std::string server("videoserver");
@@ -72,8 +73,8 @@ TEST_F(PREFERENCES,strings){
  
    pld.load("server.pref");
    ASSERT_EQ(1234,pref.getInt(server,port,0));
-   EXPECT_STREQ("192.168.1.150",pref.getString(server,ip,""));
+   EXPECT_STREQ("192.168.1.150",pref.getString(server,ip).c_str());
    ASSERT_EQ(1234,pref.getInt("server2",port,0));
-   EXPECT_STREQ("192.168.1.150",pref.getString("server2",ip,""));
+   EXPECT_STREQ("192.168.1.150",pref.getString("server2",ip).c_str());
 }