diff --git a/Lib/php/std_string.i b/Lib/php/std_string.i
index 656765194..f6b036bd8 100644
--- a/Lib/php/std_string.i
+++ b/Lib/php/std_string.i
@@ -71,8 +71,7 @@ namespace std {
 
     %typemap(directorout) string & (std::string *temp) %{
         convert_to_string_ex($input);
-        temp = new std::string;
-        temp->assign(Z_STRVAL_PP($input), Z_STRLEN_PP($input));
+        temp = new std::string(Z_STRVAL_PP($input), Z_STRLEN_PP($input));
         swig_acquire_ownership(temp);
         $result = temp;
     %}