diff --git a/include/anope.h b/include/anope.h
index 865727260..7e9808f55 100644
--- a/include/anope.h
+++ b/include/anope.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 
 #include "hashcomp.h"
+#include "utfcpp/unchecked.h"
 
 namespace Anope
 {
@@ -129,6 +130,7 @@ namespace Anope
 		 * Returns the string's length.
 		 */
 		inline size_type length() const { return this->_string.length(); }
+		inline size_type utf8length() const { return utf8::unchecked::distance(str().begin(), str().end()); }
 
 		/**
 		 * Returns the size of the currently allocated storage space in the string object.
diff --git a/src/command.cpp b/src/command.cpp
index b1c09e9cd..475477dd6 100644
--- a/src/command.cpp
+++ b/src/command.cpp
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 #include "regchannel.h"
 #include "channels.h"
 
-#include "utfcpp/unchecked.h"
-
 void CommandReply::SendMessage(CommandSource &source, const Anope::string &msg)
 {
 	SendMessage(source.service, msg);
@@ -152,7 +150,7 @@ void Command::SendSyntax(CommandSource &source)
 {
 	auto first = true;
 	Anope::string prefix = Language::Translate(source.GetAccount(), _("Syntax"));
-	Anope::string padding(utf8::unchecked::distance(prefix.str().begin(), prefix.str().end()), ' ');
+	Anope::string padding(prefix.utf8length(), ' ');
 	for (const auto &[syntax, predicate] : this->syntax)
 	{
 		if (predicate && !predicate(source))