diff --git a/src/form.cc b/src/form.cc
index bbde43b..b775a58 100644
--- a/src/form.cc
+++ b/src/form.cc
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ public:  //BUG: for now everything is public
                          entries, it is the initial value */
    DilloHtmlSelect *select;
    bool init_val;     /* only meaningful for buttons */
-   Dstr *file_data;   /* only meaningful for file inputs.
+   std::string file_data;   /* only meaningful for file inputs.
                          TODO: may become a list... */
 
 private:
@@ -1639,7 +1639,6 @@ DilloHtmlInput::DilloHtmlInput (DilloHtmlInputType type2, Embed *embed2,
    default:
       break;
    }
-   file_data = NULL;
    reset ();
 }
 
@@ -1648,7 +1647,6 @@ DilloHtmlInput::DilloHtmlInput (DilloHtmlInputType type2, Embed *embed2,
  */
 DilloHtmlInput::~DilloHtmlInput ()
 {
-   dStr_free(file_data, 1);
    if (select)
       delete select;
 }
@@ -1714,9 +1712,8 @@ void DilloHtmlInput::readFile (BrowserWindow *bw)
    const char *filename = a_UIcmd_select_file();
    if (filename) {
       a_UIcmd_set_msg(bw, "Loading file...");
-      dStr_free(file_data, 1);
       file_data = a_Misc_file2dstr(filename);
-      if (file_data) {
+      if (not file_data.empty()) {
          a_UIcmd_set_msg(bw, "File loaded.");
          LabelButtonResource *lbr = (LabelButtonResource*)embed->getResource();
          lbr->setLabel(filename);
@@ -1775,8 +1772,8 @@ void DilloHtmlInput::appendValuesTo(std::vector< std::string > &values, bool is_
          LabelButtonResource *lbr = (LabelButtonResource*)embed->getResource();
          const char *filename = lbr->getLabel();
          if (filename[0] && strcmp(filename, init_str.value().c_str())) {
-            if (file_data) {
-               values.push_back( file_data->str );
+            if (not file_data.empty()) {
+               values.push_back( file_data );
             } else {
                MSG("FORM file input \"%s\" not loaded.\n", filename);
             }
diff --git a/src/misc.cc b/src/misc.cc
index 6f751b8..af636c1 100644
--- a/src/misc.cc
+++ b/src/misc.cc
@@ -466,19 +466,18 @@ char *a_Misc_encode_base64(const char *in)
  * Return value: dStr on success, NULL on error.
  * TODO: a filesize threshold may be implemented.
  */
-Dstr *a_Misc_file2dstr(const char *filename)
+std::string a_Misc_file2dstr(const char *filename)
 {
    FILE *F_in;
    int n;
    char buf[4096];
-   Dstr *dstr = NULL;
+   std::string str;
 
    if ((F_in = fopen(filename, "r"))) {
-      dstr = dStr_sized_new(4096);
       while ((n = fread (buf, 1, 4096, F_in)) > 0) {
-         dStr_append_l(dstr, buf, n);
+         std::copy_n( buf, n, std::back_inserter( str ) );
       }
       fclose(F_in);
    }
-   return dstr;
+   return str;
 }
diff --git a/src/misc.hh b/src/misc.hh
index c7b3a74..d5b31e1 100644
--- a/src/misc.hh
+++ b/src/misc.hh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <string_view>
 std::string a_Misc_escape_chars(std::string_view str, std::string_view esc_set);
 std::optional< std::string > a_Misc_parse_content_type(const char *str, char **major, char **minor);
+std::string a_Misc_file2dstr(const char *filename);
 #endif
 
 int a_Misc_expand_tabs(char **start, char *end, char *buf, int buflen);
@@ -19,4 +20,3 @@ int a_Misc_content_type_cmp(const char* ct1, const char *ct2);
 int a_Misc_parse_geometry(char *geom, int *x, int *y, int *w, int *h);
 int a_Misc_parse_search_url(char *source, char **label, char **urlstr);
 char *a_Misc_encode_base64(const char *in);
-Dstr *a_Misc_file2dstr(const char *filename);
diff --git a/src/styleengine.cc b/src/styleengine.cc
index 9a74d03..1c4462b 100644
--- a/src/styleengine.cc
+++ b/src/styleengine.cc
@@ -1074,12 +1074,11 @@ void StyleEngine::init () {
 }
 
 void StyleEngine::buildUserStyle () {
-   Dstr *style;
    char *filename = dStrconcat(dGethomedir(), "/.flenser/style.css", NULL);
 
-   if ((style = a_Misc_file2dstr(filename))) {
-      CssParser::parse (NULL,NULL,cssContext,style->str, style->len,CSS_ORIGIN_USER);
-      dStr_free (style, 1);
+   const std::string style= a_Misc_file2dstr(filename);
+   if (not style.empty()) {
+      CssParser::parse (NULL,NULL,cssContext, style.c_str(), style.size(), CSS_ORIGIN_USER);
    }
    dFree (filename);
 }