diff --git a/CHANGELOG.markdown b/CHANGELOG.markdown
index 2db5b3e..0c496bc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.markdown
+++ b/CHANGELOG.markdown
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@
 - Adapt to latest cimgui API changes
 - Bump minimum Rust version to 1.20
 - Upgrade to bitflags 1.0
+- Various minor ImString/ImStr changes
+- `text` now accepts normal Rust strings. ImStr is still needed everywhere else
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Default impl for ImString was incorrect and could cause a crash
 
 ### Deprecated
 
@@ -21,6 +27,10 @@
 - `color_edit3`. Use `color_edit` instead
 - `color_edit4`. Use `color_edit` instead
 
+### Removed
+
+- ImStr -> str Deref. Use `to_str` instead.
+
 ## [0.0.16] - 2017-10-26
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 4c49bfc..d87881b 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ impl<'ui> Ui<'ui> {
 
 // Widgets
 impl<'ui> Ui<'ui> {
-    pub fn text<P: AsRef<ImStr>>(&self, text: P) {
+    pub fn text<S: AsRef<str>>(&self, text: S) {
         let s = text.as_ref();
         unsafe {
             let start = s.as_ptr();
diff --git a/src/string.rs b/src/string.rs
index f6c78e6..f78799c 100644
--- a/src/string.rs
+++ b/src/string.rs
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ use std::borrow::Borrow;
 use std::ffi::CStr;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::mem;
-use std::ops::Deref;
+use std::ops::{Deref, Index, RangeFull};
 use std::os::raw::c_char;
 use std::str;
 
-#[derive(Clone, Default, Hash, Ord, Eq, PartialOrd, PartialEq)]
+#[derive(Clone, Hash, Ord, Eq, PartialOrd, PartialEq)]
 pub struct ImString(Vec<u8>);
 
 impl ImString {
@@ -56,6 +56,18 @@ impl ImString {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'a> Default for ImString {
+    fn default() -> ImString { unsafe { ImString::from_utf8_with_nul_unchecked(vec![0]) } }
+}
+
+impl From<String> for ImString {
+    fn from(s: String) -> ImString { ImString::new(s) }
+}
+
+impl<'a, T: ?Sized + AsRef<ImStr>> From<&'a T> for ImString {
+    fn from(s: &'a T) -> ImString { s.as_ref().to_owned() }
+}
+
 impl AsRef<ImStr> for ImString {
     fn as_ref(&self) -> &ImStr { self }
 }
@@ -64,11 +76,21 @@ impl Borrow<ImStr> for ImString {
     fn borrow(&self) -> &ImStr { self }
 }
 
+impl AsRef<str> for ImString {
+    fn as_ref(&self) -> &str { self.to_str() }
+}
+
+impl Borrow<str> for ImString {
+    fn borrow(&self) -> &str { self.to_str() }
+}
+
+impl Index<RangeFull> for ImString {
+    type Output = ImStr;
+    fn index(&self, _index: RangeFull) -> &ImStr { self }
+}
+
 impl fmt::Debug for ImString {
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        let s: &str = self;
-        fmt::Debug::fmt(s, f)
-    }
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result { fmt::Debug::fmt(self.to_str(), f) }
 }
 
 impl Deref for ImString {
@@ -80,11 +102,7 @@ impl Deref for ImString {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a> From<&'a ImStr> for ImString {
-    fn from(value: &'a ImStr) -> ImString { value.to_owned() }
-}
-
-#[derive(Hash)]
+#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord)]
 pub struct ImStr(CStr);
 
 impl<'a> Default for &'a ImStr {
@@ -99,15 +117,12 @@ impl fmt::Debug for ImStr {
 }
 
 impl ImStr {
+    pub fn new<S: AsRef<ImStr> + ?Sized>(s: &S) -> &ImStr { s.as_ref() }
     pub unsafe fn from_utf8_with_nul_unchecked(bytes: &[u8]) -> &ImStr { mem::transmute(bytes) }
     pub fn as_ptr(&self) -> *const c_char { self.0.as_ptr() }
     pub fn to_str(&self) -> &str { unsafe { str::from_utf8_unchecked(self.0.to_bytes()) } }
 }
 
-impl<'a> Into<&'a CStr> for &'a ImStr {
-    fn into(self) -> &'a CStr { &self.0 }
-}
-
 impl AsRef<CStr> for ImStr {
     fn as_ref(&self) -> &CStr { &self.0 }
 }
@@ -116,12 +131,11 @@ impl AsRef<ImStr> for ImStr {
     fn as_ref(&self) -> &ImStr { self }
 }
 
+impl AsRef<str> for ImStr {
+    fn as_ref(&self) -> &str { self.to_str() }
+}
+
 impl ToOwned for ImStr {
     type Owned = ImString;
     fn to_owned(&self) -> ImString { ImString(self.0.to_owned().into_bytes()) }
 }
-
-impl Deref for ImStr {
-    type Target = str;
-    fn deref(&self) -> &str { unsafe { str::from_utf8_unchecked(self.0.to_bytes()) } }
-}