diff --git a/include/osgText/EncodedText b/include/osgText/EncodedText
index 79dba6e76..cc2a18e8d 100644
--- a/include/osgText/EncodedText
+++ b/include/osgText/EncodedText
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class OSGTEXT_EXPORT EncodedText : public osg::Referenced
         Encoding getOverrideEncoding() const { return _overrideEncoding; }
         Encoding getEncoding() const { return _encoding; }
 
-        void setText(const unsigned char* text);
+        void setText(const unsigned char* text, int length = -1);
         std::vector<int>::const_iterator getUnicodeText() const { return _unicodeText.begin(); } 
 
     protected:
diff --git a/src/osgText/EncodedText.cpp b/src/osgText/EncodedText.cpp
index cc322b29f..01b5fbdd4 100644
--- a/src/osgText/EncodedText.cpp
+++ b/src/osgText/EncodedText.cpp
@@ -200,21 +200,24 @@ EncodedText::Encoding EncodedText::findEncoding(const unsigned char*& charString
     return ENCODING_ASCII;
 }
 
-void EncodedText::setText(const unsigned char* text)
+void EncodedText::setText(const unsigned char* text, int length)
 {
     _unicodeText.clear();
     if (text != NULL)
     {
+        const unsigned char* textStart = text;
         if ((_overrideEncoding == ENCODING_SIGNATURE) || 
             (_overrideEncoding == ENCODING_UTF16) || 
             (_overrideEncoding == ENCODING_UTF32))
             _encoding = findEncoding(text);
 
         int character = getNextCharacter(text);
-        while (character)
+        int charCount = (int)(text-textStart);
+        while ((character) && (charCount <= length))
         {
             _unicodeText.push_back(character);
             character = getNextCharacter(text);
+            charCount = (int)(text-textStart);
         }
         _unicodeText.push_back(0); //just making the null-termination explicit
     }
diff --git a/src/osgText/Text.cpp b/src/osgText/Text.cpp
index a27119b95..c55c58366 100644
--- a/src/osgText/Text.cpp
+++ b/src/osgText/Text.cpp
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ setText(const std::string& text)
 { 
     _text=text; 
     _initAlignment=false;
-    _encodedText->setText((const unsigned char*)_text.data());
+    _encodedText->setText((const unsigned char*)_text.data(),_text.size());
 }
 // Text
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////