diff --git a/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/BitEncoding.java b/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/BitEncoding.java
index 9db1c7d..d1e545b 100644
--- a/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/BitEncoding.java
+++ b/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/BitEncoding.java
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 import java.util.List;
 
 public class BitEncoding {
+    private static boolean NEW = true;
+
     private BitEncoding() {
     }
 
@@ -34,6 +36,10 @@
      */
     @NotNull
     public static String[] encodeBytes(@NotNull byte[] data) {
+        if (NEW) {
+            List<String> strings = UtfEncodingKt.bytesToStrings(data);
+            return strings.toArray(new String[strings.size()]);
+        }
         byte[] bytes = encode8to7(data);
         // Since 0x0 byte is encoded as two bytes in the Modified UTF-8 (0xc0 0x80) and zero is rather common to byte arrays, we increment
         // every byte by one modulo max byte value, so that the less common value 0x7f will be represented as two bytes instead.
@@ -157,6 +163,9 @@
      */
     @NotNull
     public static byte[] decodeBytes(@NotNull String[] data) {
+        if (NEW) {
+            return UtfEncodingKt.stringsToBytes(data);
+        }
         byte[] bytes = combineStringArrayIntoBytes(data);
         // Adding 0x7f modulo max byte value is equivalent to subtracting 1 the same modulo, which is inverse to what happens in encodeBytes
         addModuloByte(bytes, 0x7f);
diff --git a/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/utfEncoding.kt b/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/utfEncoding.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b18abc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/descriptor.loader.java/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/serialization/jvm/utfEncoding.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010-2016 JetBrains s.r.o.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.jetbrains.kotlin.serialization.jvm
+
+import java.util.*
+
+// The maximum possible length of the byte array in the CONSTANT_Utf8_info structure in the bytecode, as per JVMS7 4.4.7
+private val MAX_UTF8_INFO_LENGTH = 65535
+
+// Leading bytes are prefixed with 110 in UTF-8
+private val LEADING_BYTE_MASK = 0b11000000
+// Continuation bytes are prefixed with 10 in UTF-8
+private val CONTINUATION_BYTE_MASK = 0b10000000
+
+private val TWO_HIGHER_BITS_MASK = 0b11000000
+private val TWO_LOWER_BITS_MASK = 0b00000011
+private val SIX_LOWER_BITS_MASK = 0b00111111
+
+fun bytesToStrings(bytes: ByteArray): List<String> {
+    val result = ArrayList<String>(1)
+    val buffer = StringBuilder()
+    var bytesInBuffer = 0
+
+    for (b in bytes) {
+        if (b >= 0) {
+            buffer.append(b.toChar())
+            bytesInBuffer++
+        }
+        else {
+            val int = b.toInt() and 0xFF
+            val leadingByte = LEADING_BYTE_MASK or ((int and TWO_HIGHER_BITS_MASK) shr 6)
+            val continuationByte = CONTINUATION_BYTE_MASK or (int and SIX_LOWER_BITS_MASK)
+            val encodedByte = (leadingByte shl 8) or continuationByte
+
+            buffer.append(encodedByte.toChar())
+            bytesInBuffer += 2
+
+            if (bytesInBuffer > MAX_UTF8_INFO_LENGTH) {
+                result.add(buffer.substring(0, buffer.length - 1))
+                buffer.setLength(0)
+                buffer.append(encodedByte.toChar())
+                bytesInBuffer = 2
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (bytesInBuffer == MAX_UTF8_INFO_LENGTH) {
+            result.add(buffer.toString())
+            buffer.setLength(0)
+            bytesInBuffer = 0
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (!buffer.isEmpty()) {
+        result.add(buffer.toString())
+    }
+
+    return result
+}
+
+fun stringsToBytes(strings: Array<String>): ByteArray {
+    val resultLength = strings.sumBy { it.length }
+    val result = ByteArray(resultLength)
+
+    var i = 0
+    for (s in strings) {
+        for (si in 0..s.length - 1) {
+            val c = s[si]
+
+            val int = c.toInt()
+            if (int <= 127) {
+                result[i++] = c.toByte()
+            }
+            else {
+                val leadingByte = (int and 0xFFFF) shr 8
+                val continuationByte = int and 0xFF
+                val higherBits = (leadingByte and TWO_LOWER_BITS_MASK) shl 6
+                val lowerBits = continuationByte and SIX_LOWER_BITS_MASK
+                result[i++] = (higherBits or lowerBits).toByte()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    return result
+}
\ No newline at end of file