diff --git a/src/plugins/cpptools/generatedcodemodelsupport.cpp b/src/plugins/cpptools/generatedcodemodelsupport.cpp
index 2d13ce554ed..50b1000997c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cpptools/generatedcodemodelsupport.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cpptools/generatedcodemodelsupport.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ void GeneratedCodeModelSupport::init() const
 
 QByteArray GeneratedCodeModelSupport::contents() const
 {
-    return m_generator->content(m_generatedFileName).toUtf8();
+    return m_generator->content(m_generatedFileName);
 }
 
 QString GeneratedCodeModelSupport::fileName() const
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.cpp b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.cpp
index fee682c2e7d..66b21698e32 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public:
     const Project *project;
     Utils::FileName source;
     Utils::FileNameList targets;
-    QVector<QString> contents;
+    QVector<QByteArray> contents;
     QList<Task> issues;
     QDateTime compileTime;
     Core::IEditor *lastEditor = 0;
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ ExtraCompiler::ExtraCompiler(const Project *project, const Utils::FileName &sour
 
         QFile file(target.toString());
         if (file.open(QFile::ReadOnly | QFile::Text))
-            setContent(target, QTextStream(&file).readAll());
+            setContent(target, file.readAll());
     }
 
     if (d->dirty) {
@@ -146,13 +146,13 @@ Utils::FileName ExtraCompiler::source() const
     return d->source;
 }
 
-QString ExtraCompiler::content(const Utils::FileName &file) const
+QByteArray ExtraCompiler::content(const Utils::FileName &file) const
 {
     for (int i = 0; i < d->targets.length(); ++i) {
         if (d->targets[i] == file)
             return d->contents[i];
     }
-    return QString();
+    return QByteArray();
 }
 
 Utils::FileNameList ExtraCompiler::targets() const
@@ -190,9 +190,8 @@ void ExtraCompiler::onTargetsBuilt(Project *project)
 
             QFile file(target.toString());
             if (file.open(QFile::ReadOnly | QFile::Text)) {
-                QTextStream stream(&file);
                 d->compileTime = generateTime;
-                setContent(target, stream.readAll());
+                setContent(target, file.readAll());
             }
         }
     }
@@ -334,7 +333,7 @@ void ExtraCompilerPrivate::updateIssues()
     widget->setExtraSelections(TextEditor::TextEditorWidget::CodeWarningsSelection, selections);
 }
 
-void ExtraCompiler::setContent(const Utils::FileName &file, const QString &contents)
+void ExtraCompiler::setContent(const Utils::FileName &file, const QByteArray &contents)
 {
     for (int i = 0; i < d->targets.length(); ++i) {
         if (d->targets[i] == file) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.h b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.h
index bd248eabd89..eb5e0123d9c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.h
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/extracompiler.h
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ public:
 
     // You can set the contents from the outside. This is done if the file has been (re)created by
     // the regular build process.
-    void setContent(const Utils::FileName &file, const QString &content);
-    QString content(const Utils::FileName &file) const;
+    void setContent(const Utils::FileName &file, const QByteArray &content);
+    QByteArray content(const Utils::FileName &file) const;
 
     Utils::FileNameList targets() const;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/qtsupport/qscxmlcgenerator.cpp b/src/plugins/qtsupport/qscxmlcgenerator.cpp
index 15977210025..9d0cc258ba6 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qtsupport/qscxmlcgenerator.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qtsupport/qscxmlcgenerator.cpp
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ void QScxmlcGenerator::finishProcess()
         QFile generated(m_tmpdir.path() + QLatin1Char('/') + target.fileName());
         if (!generated.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly))
             continue;
-        setContent(target, QString::fromUtf8(generated.readAll()));
+        setContent(target, generated.readAll());
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/qtsupport/uicgenerator.cpp b/src/plugins/qtsupport/uicgenerator.cpp
index a855558adc3..33818d01b43 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qtsupport/uicgenerator.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qtsupport/uicgenerator.cpp
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ void UicGenerator::finishProcess()
 
     // As far as I can discover in the UIC sources, it writes out local 8-bit encoding. The
     // conversion below is to normalize both the encoding, and the line terminators.
-    QString normalized = QString::fromLocal8Bit(m_process.readAllStandardOutput());
+    QByteArray normalized = QString::fromLocal8Bit(m_process.readAllStandardOutput()).toUtf8();
     qCDebug(m_log) << "finish process: ok" << normalized.size() << "bytes.";
     setCompileTime(QDateTime::currentDateTime());
     setContent(targets()[0], normalized);