diff --git a/code/Common/DefaultIOSystem.cpp b/code/Common/DefaultIOSystem.cpp
index d40b67de3..6fdc24dd8 100644
--- a/code/Common/DefaultIOSystem.cpp
+++ b/code/Common/DefaultIOSystem.cpp
@@ -61,83 +61,66 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 using namespace Assimp;
 
-// maximum path length
-// XXX http://insanecoding.blogspot.com/2007/11/pathmax-simply-isnt.html
-#ifdef PATH_MAX
-#   define PATHLIMIT PATH_MAX
-#else
-#   define PATHLIMIT 4096
+#ifdef _WIN32
+static std::wstring Utf8ToWide(const char* in)
+{
+    int size = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, in, -1, nullptr, 0);
+    // size includes terminating null; std::wstring adds null automatically
+    std::wstring out(static_cast<size_t>(size) - 1, L'\0');
+    MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, in, -1, &out[0], size);
+    return out;
+}
+
+static std::string WideToUtf8(const wchar_t* in)
+{
+    int size = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, in, -1, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+    // size includes terminating null; std::string adds null automatically
+    std::string out(static_cast<size_t>(size) - 1, '\0');
+    WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, in, -1, &out[0], size, nullptr, nullptr);
+    return out;
+}
 #endif
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Tests for the existence of a file at the given path.
-bool DefaultIOSystem::Exists( const char* pFile) const
+bool DefaultIOSystem::Exists(const char* pFile) const
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
-    wchar_t fileName16[PATHLIMIT];
-
-#ifndef WindowsStore
-    bool isUnicode = IsTextUnicode(pFile, static_cast<int>(strlen(pFile)), NULL) != 0;
-    if (isUnicode) {
-
-        MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, MB_PRECOMPOSED, pFile, -1, fileName16, PATHLIMIT);
-        struct __stat64 filestat;
-        if (0 != _wstat64(fileName16, &filestat)) {
-            return false;
-        }
-    } else {
-#endif
-        FILE* file = ::fopen(pFile, "rb");
-        if (!file)
-            return false;
-
-        ::fclose(file);
-#ifndef WindowsStore
+    struct __stat64 filestat;
+    if (_wstat64(Utf8ToWide(pFile).c_str(), &filestat) != 0) {
+        return false;
     }
-#endif
 #else
-    FILE* file = ::fopen( pFile, "rb");
-    if( !file)
+    FILE* file = ::fopen(pFile, "rb");
+    if (!file)
         return false;
 
-    ::fclose( file);
+    ::fclose(file);
 #endif
     return true;
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Open a new file with a given path.
-IOStream* DefaultIOSystem::Open( const char* strFile, const char* strMode)
+IOStream* DefaultIOSystem::Open(const char* strFile, const char* strMode)
 {
-    ai_assert(NULL != strFile);
-    ai_assert(NULL != strMode);
+    ai_assert(strFile != nullptr);
+    ai_assert(strMode != nullptr);
     FILE* file;
 #ifdef _WIN32
-    wchar_t fileName16[PATHLIMIT];
-#ifndef WindowsStore
-    bool isUnicode = IsTextUnicode(strFile, static_cast<int>(strlen(strFile)), NULL) != 0;
-    if (isUnicode) {
-        MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, MB_PRECOMPOSED, strFile, -1, fileName16, PATHLIMIT);
-        std::string mode8(strMode);
-        file = ::_wfopen(fileName16, std::wstring(mode8.begin(), mode8.end()).c_str());
-    } else {
-#endif
-        file = ::fopen(strFile, strMode);
-#ifndef WindowsStore
-    }
-#endif
+    file = ::_wfopen(Utf8ToWide(strFile).c_str(), Utf8ToWide(strMode).c_str());
 #else
     file = ::fopen(strFile, strMode);
 #endif
-    if (nullptr == file)
+    if (!file)
         return nullptr;
 
-    return new DefaultIOStream(file, (std::string) strFile);
+    return new DefaultIOStream(file, strFile);
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Closes the given file and releases all resources associated with it.
-void DefaultIOSystem::Close( IOStream* pFile)
+void DefaultIOSystem::Close(IOStream* pFile)
 {
     delete pFile;
 }
@@ -155,78 +138,56 @@ char DefaultIOSystem::getOsSeparator() const
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // IOSystem default implementation (ComparePaths isn't a pure virtual function)
-bool IOSystem::ComparePaths (const char* one, const char* second) const
+bool IOSystem::ComparePaths(const char* one, const char* second) const
 {
-    return !ASSIMP_stricmp(one,second);
+    return !ASSIMP_stricmp(one, second);
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Convert a relative path into an absolute path
-inline static void MakeAbsolutePath (const char* in, char* _out)
+inline static std::string MakeAbsolutePath(const char* in)
 {
-    ai_assert(in && _out);
-#if defined( _MSC_VER ) || defined( __MINGW32__ )
-#ifndef WindowsStore
-    bool isUnicode = IsTextUnicode(in, static_cast<int>(strlen(in)), NULL) != 0;
-    if (isUnicode) {
-        wchar_t out16[PATHLIMIT];
-        wchar_t in16[PATHLIMIT];
-        MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, MB_PRECOMPOSED, in, -1, out16, PATHLIMIT);
-        wchar_t* ret = ::_wfullpath(out16, in16, PATHLIMIT);
-        if (ret) {
-            WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, MB_PRECOMPOSED, out16, -1, _out, PATHLIMIT, nullptr, nullptr);
-        }
-        if (!ret) {
-            // preserve the input path, maybe someone else is able to fix
-            // the path before it is accessed (e.g. our file system filter)
-            ASSIMP_LOG_WARN_F("Invalid path: ", std::string(in));
-            strcpy(_out, in);
-        }
-
-    } else {
-#endif
-        char* ret = :: _fullpath(_out, in, PATHLIMIT);
-        if (!ret) {
-            // preserve the input path, maybe someone else is able to fix
-            // the path before it is accessed (e.g. our file system filter)
-            ASSIMP_LOG_WARN_F("Invalid path: ", std::string(in));
-            strcpy(_out, in);
-        }
-#ifndef WindowsStore
+    ai_assert(in);
+    std::string out;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    wchar_t* ret = ::_wfullpath(nullptr, Utf8ToWide(in).c_str(), 0);
+    if (ret) {
+        out = WideToUtf8(ret);
+        free(ret);
+    }
+#else
+    char* ret = realpath(in, nullptr);
+    if (ret) {
+        out = ret;
+        free(ret);
     }
 #endif
-#else
-    // use realpath
-    char* ret = realpath(in, _out);
-    if(!ret) {
+    if (!ret) {
         // preserve the input path, maybe someone else is able to fix
         // the path before it is accessed (e.g. our file system filter)
         ASSIMP_LOG_WARN_F("Invalid path: ", std::string(in));
-        strcpy(_out,in);
+        out = in;
     }
-#endif
+    return out;
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // DefaultIOSystem's more specialized implementation
-bool DefaultIOSystem::ComparePaths (const char* one, const char* second) const
+bool DefaultIOSystem::ComparePaths(const char* one, const char* second) const
 {
     // chances are quite good both paths are formatted identically,
     // so we can hopefully return here already
-    if( !ASSIMP_stricmp(one,second) )
+    if (!ASSIMP_stricmp(one, second))
         return true;
 
-    char temp1[PATHLIMIT];
-    char temp2[PATHLIMIT];
+    std::string temp1 = MakeAbsolutePath(one);
+    std::string temp2 = MakeAbsolutePath(second);
 
-    MakeAbsolutePath (one, temp1);
-    MakeAbsolutePath (second, temp2);
-
-    return !ASSIMP_stricmp(temp1,temp2);
+    return !ASSIMP_stricmp(temp1, temp2);
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-std::string DefaultIOSystem::fileName( const std::string &path )
+std::string DefaultIOSystem::fileName(const std::string& path)
 {
     std::string ret = path;
     std::size_t last = ret.find_last_of("\\/");
@@ -235,16 +196,16 @@ std::string DefaultIOSystem::fileName( const std::string &path )
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-std::string DefaultIOSystem::completeBaseName( const std::string &path )
+std::string DefaultIOSystem::completeBaseName(const std::string& path)
 {
     std::string ret = fileName(path);
     std::size_t pos = ret.find_last_of('.');
-    if(pos != ret.npos) ret = ret.substr(0, pos);
+    if (pos != std::string::npos) ret = ret.substr(0, pos);
     return ret;
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-std::string DefaultIOSystem::absolutePath( const std::string &path )
+std::string DefaultIOSystem::absolutePath(const std::string& path)
 {
     std::string ret = path;
     std::size_t last = ret.find_last_of("\\/");
@@ -253,5 +214,3 @@ std::string DefaultIOSystem::absolutePath( const std::string &path )
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-#undef PATHLIMIT