diff --git a/gfx/d3d/d3d.cpp b/gfx/d3d/d3d.cpp
index 7de8f4deee..8289200fc8 100644
--- a/gfx/d3d/d3d.cpp
+++ b/gfx/d3d/d3d.cpp
@@ -1084,7 +1084,7 @@ static bool d3d_init_multipass(d3d_video_t *d3d)
    unsigned i;
    bool use_extra_pass;
    video_shader_pass *pass = NULL;
-   config_file_t *conf     = config_file_new(d3d->shader_path.c_str());
+   config_file_t *conf     = config_file_new(d3d->shader_path);
 
    if (!conf)
    {
@@ -1103,7 +1103,7 @@ static bool d3d_init_multipass(d3d_video_t *d3d)
 
    config_file_free(conf);
 
-   video_shader_resolve_relative(&d3d->shader, d3d->shader_path.c_str());
+   video_shader_resolve_relative(&d3d->shader, d3d->shader_path);
 
    RARCH_LOG("[D3D9 Meta-Cg] Found %u shaders.\n", d3d->shader.passes);
 
@@ -1162,7 +1162,7 @@ static bool d3d_init_singlepass(d3d_video_t *d3d)
    pass->fbo.type_y                      = RARCH_SCALE_VIEWPORT;
    pass->fbo.scale_x                     = pass->fbo.scale_y;
    pass->fbo.type_x                      = pass->fbo.type_y;
-   strlcpy(pass->source.path, d3d->shader_path.c_str(),
+   strlcpy(pass->source.path, d3d->shader_path,
          sizeof(pass->source.path));
 #endif
 
@@ -1172,8 +1172,7 @@ static bool d3d_init_singlepass(d3d_video_t *d3d)
 static bool d3d_process_shader(d3d_video_t *d3d)
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_FBO
-   if (strcmp(path_get_extension(
-               d3d->shader_path.c_str()), "cgp") == 0)
+   if (strcmp(path_get_extension(d3d->shader_path), "cgp") == 0)
       return d3d_init_multipass(d3d);
 #endif
 
@@ -1598,13 +1597,14 @@ static bool d3d_set_shader(void *data,
 {
    bool restore_old   = false;
    d3d_video_t *d3d   = (d3d_video_t*)data;
-   std::string shader = "";
+   char old_shader[PATH_MAX_LENGTH];
+   char shader[PATH_MAX_LENGTH];
 
    switch (type)
    {
       case RARCH_SHADER_CG:
          if (path)
-            shader   = path;
+            strlcpy(shader, path, sizeof(shader));
 #ifdef HAVE_HLSL
          d3d->shader = &hlsl_backend;
 #endif
@@ -1613,8 +1613,8 @@ static bool d3d_set_shader(void *data,
          break;
    }
 
-   std::string old_shader = d3d->shader_path;
-   d3d->shader_path       = shader;
+   strlcpy(old_shader, d3d->shader_path, sizeof(old_shader));
+   strlcpy(d3d->shader_path, shader, sizeof(d3d->shader_path));
 
    if (!d3d_process_shader(d3d) || !d3d_restore(d3d))
    {
@@ -1624,7 +1624,7 @@ static bool d3d_set_shader(void *data,
 
    if (restore_old)
    {
-      d3d->shader_path = old_shader;
+      strlcpy(d3d->shader_path, old_shader, sizeof(d3d->shader_path));
       d3d_process_shader(d3d);
       d3d_restore(d3d);
    }
diff --git a/gfx/d3d/d3d.h b/gfx/d3d/d3d.h
index 8fcbe90640..2ab4d41d02 100644
--- a/gfx/d3d/d3d.h
+++ b/gfx/d3d/d3d.h
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@
 #ifndef __D3DVIDEO_INTF_H__
 #define __D3DVIDEO_INTF_H__
 
-#include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
+#include <retro_miscellaneous.h>
+
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
 #include "../../config.h"
 #endif
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ typedef struct d3d_video
    unsigned dev_rotation;
    D3DVIEWPORT final_viewport;
 
-   std::string shader_path;
+   char shader_path[PATH_MAX_LENGTH];
 
    struct video_shader shader;
    video_info_t video_info;