diff --git a/base/strings/basic.jl b/base/strings/basic.jl
index 00a33f8ddc256..c2876fd04f87a 100644
--- a/base/strings/basic.jl
+++ b/base/strings/basic.jl
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ convert(::Type{Array{UInt8}}, s::AbstractString) = String(s).data
 convert(::Type{String}, s::AbstractString) = String(s)
 convert(::Type{Vector{Char}}, s::AbstractString) = collect(s)
 convert(::Type{Symbol}, s::AbstractString) = Symbol(s)
+convert(::Type{String}, s::Symbol) = unsafe_string(Cstring(s))
 
 ## generic supplied functions ##
 
diff --git a/test/strings/basic.jl b/test/strings/basic.jl
index 55398736d9976..e37371cb48fb4 100644
--- a/test/strings/basic.jl
+++ b/test/strings/basic.jl
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ let
     # make symbol with invalid char
     sym = Symbol(Char(0xdcdb))
     @test string(sym) == string(Char(0xdcdb))
+    @test String(sym) == string(Char(0xdcdb))
     @test expand(sym) === sym
     res = string(parse(string(Char(0xdcdb)," = 1"),1,raise=false)[1])
     @test res == """\$(Expr(:error, "invalid character \\\"\\udcdb\\\"\"))"""