diff --git a/browse_foreigners.php b/browse_foreigners.php
index 2a0efb53fa..d9441e18fe 100644
--- a/browse_foreigners.php
+++ b/browse_foreigners.php
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ if (is_array($foreignData['disp_row'])) {
 
         $val_ordered_current_row++;
 
-        if (PMA_strlen($val_ordered_current_val) <= $cfg['LimitChars']) {
+        if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($val_ordered_current_val) <= $cfg['LimitChars']) {
             $val_ordered_current_val = htmlspecialchars(
                 $val_ordered_current_val
             );
@@ -251,11 +251,11 @@ if (is_array($foreignData['disp_row'])) {
                 $val_ordered_current_val
             );
             $val_ordered_current_val = htmlspecialchars(
-                PMA_substr($val_ordered_current_val, 0, $cfg['LimitChars'])
+                $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($val_ordered_current_val, 0, $cfg['LimitChars'])
                 . '...'
             );
         }
-        if (PMA_strlen($key_ordered_current_val) <= $cfg['LimitChars']) {
+        if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($key_ordered_current_val) <= $cfg['LimitChars']) {
             $key_ordered_current_val = htmlspecialchars(
                 $key_ordered_current_val
             );
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ if (is_array($foreignData['disp_row'])) {
                 $key_ordered_current_val
             );
             $key_ordered_current_val = htmlspecialchars(
-                PMA_substr(
+                $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr(
                     $key_ordered_current_val, 0, $cfg['LimitChars']
                 ) . '...'
             );
diff --git a/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php b/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php
index bc22105ad1..def1a6d450 100644
--- a/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php
+++ b/libraries/DisplayResults.class.php
@@ -3657,11 +3657,11 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
 
                 // if a transform function for blob is set, none of these
                 // replacements will be made
-                if ((PMA_strlen($column) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                if (($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($column) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                     && ($_SESSION['tmp_user_values']['display_text'] == self::DISPLAY_PARTIAL_TEXT)
                     && ! $this->_isNeedToSyntaxHighlight(strtolower($meta->name))
                 ) {
-                    $column = PMA_substr($column, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                    $column = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($column, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                         . '...';
                     $is_field_truncated = true;
                 }
@@ -3748,10 +3748,10 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
                 // Convert to WKT format
                 $wktval = PMA_Util::asWKT($column);
 
-                if ((PMA_strlen($wktval) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                if (($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($wktval) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                     && ($_SESSION['tmp_user_values']['display_text'] == self::DISPLAY_PARTIAL_TEXT)
                 ) {
-                    $wktval = PMA_substr($wktval, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                    $wktval = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($wktval, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                         . '...';
                     $is_field_truncated = true;
                 }
@@ -3772,11 +3772,11 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
 
                     $wkbval = $this->_displayBinaryAsPrintable($column, 'binary', 8);
 
-                    if ((PMA_strlen($wkbval) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                    if (($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($wkbval) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                         && ($_SESSION['tmp_user_values']['display_text'] == self::DISPLAY_PARTIAL_TEXT)
                     ) {
                         $wkbval
-                            = PMA_substr($wkbval, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                            = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($wkbval, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                             . '...';
                         $is_field_truncated = true;
                     }
@@ -3859,12 +3859,12 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
 
             // Cut all fields to $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
             // (unless it's a link-type transformation)
-            if (PMA_strlen($column) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
+            if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($column) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
                 && ($_SESSION['tmp_user_values']['display_text'] == self::DISPLAY_PARTIAL_TEXT)
                 && gettype($transformation_plugin) == "object"
                 && ! strpos($transformation_plugin->getName(), 'Link') === true
             ) {
-                $column = PMA_substr($column, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
+                $column = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($column, 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars'])
                     . '...';
                 $is_field_truncated = true;
             }
@@ -6015,7 +6015,7 @@ class PMA_DisplayResults
         ) {
             $content = bin2hex($content);
             if ($hexlength !== null) {
-                $content = PMA_substr($content, $hexlength);
+                $content = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($content, $hexlength);
             }
         } else {
             $content = htmlspecialchars(
diff --git a/libraries/operations.lib.php b/libraries/operations.lib.php
index 79da986943..dfb62d0c8c 100644
--- a/libraries/operations.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/operations.lib.php
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ function PMA_getSqlQueryAndCreateDbBeforeCopy()
             'SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "lower_case_table_names"', 0, 1
         );
         if ($lower_case_table_names === '1') {
-            $_REQUEST['newname'] = PMA_strtolower($_REQUEST['newname']);
+            $_REQUEST['newname'] = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strtolower($_REQUEST['newname']);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/libraries/plugins/transformations/abstract/SubstringTransformationsPlugin.class.php b/libraries/plugins/transformations/abstract/SubstringTransformationsPlugin.class.php
index 2de48e6bb0..0d8d048696 100644
--- a/libraries/plugins/transformations/abstract/SubstringTransformationsPlugin.class.php
+++ b/libraries/plugins/transformations/abstract/SubstringTransformationsPlugin.class.php
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ abstract class SubstringTransformationsPlugin extends TransformationsPlugin
 
         $newtext = '';
         if ($options[1] != 'all') {
-            $newtext = PMA_substr($buffer, $options[0], $options[1]);
+            $newtext = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($buffer, $options[0], $options[1]);
         } else {
-            $newtext = PMA_substr($buffer, $options[0]);
+            $newtext = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($buffer, $options[0]);
         }
 
         $length = strlen($newtext);
diff --git a/libraries/relation.lib.php b/libraries/relation.lib.php
index dd6054d885..b684161a42 100644
--- a/libraries/relation.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/relation.lib.php
@@ -970,7 +970,7 @@ function PMA_buildForeignDropdown($foreign, $data, $mode)
     }
 
     foreach ($foreign as $key => $value) {
-        if (PMA_strlen($value) <= $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']) {
+        if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($value) <= $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']) {
             $vtitle = '';
             $value  = htmlspecialchars($value);
         } else {
diff --git a/libraries/server_bin_log.lib.php b/libraries/server_bin_log.lib.php
index a1dcdfc585..7d471c9d64 100644
--- a/libraries/server_bin_log.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/server_bin_log.lib.php
@@ -234,9 +234,9 @@ function PMA_getAllLogItemInfo($result, $dontlimitchars)
     $odd_row = true;
     while ($value = $GLOBALS['dbi']->fetchAssoc($result)) {
         if (! $dontlimitchars
-            && PMA_strlen($value['Info']) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
+            && $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($value['Info']) > $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
         ) {
-            $value['Info'] = PMA_substr(
+            $value['Info'] = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr(
                 $value['Info'], 0, $GLOBALS['cfg']['LimitChars']
             ) . '...';
         }
diff --git a/libraries/sqlparser.lib.php b/libraries/sqlparser.lib.php
index 9d27f4c734..831d2d54fe 100644
--- a/libraries/sqlparser.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/sqlparser.lib.php
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
     $sql = str_replace("\r\n", "\n", $sql);
     $sql = str_replace("\r", "\n", $sql);
 
-    $len = PMA_strlen($sql);
+    $len = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($sql);
     if ($len == 0) {
         return array();
     }
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
     $this_was_quote       = false;
 
     while ($count2 < $len) {
-        $c      = PMA_substr($sql, $count2, 1);
+        $c      = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2, 1);
         $count1 = $count2;
 
         $previous_was_space = $this_was_space;
@@ -327,11 +327,11 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
         // MySQL style #
         // C style /* */
         // ANSI style --
-        $next_c = PMA_substr($sql, $count2 + 1, 1);
+        $next_c = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2 + 1, 1);
         if (($c == '#')
             || (($count2 + 1 < $len) && ($c == '/') && ($next_c == '*'))
             || (($count2 + 2 == $len) && ($c == '-') && ($next_c == '-'))
-            || (($count2 + 2 < $len) && ($c == '-') && ($next_c == '-') && ((PMA_substr($sql, $count2 + 2, 1) <= ' ')))
+            || (($count2 + 2 < $len) && ($c == '-') && ($next_c == '-') && (($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2 + 2, 1) <= ' ')))
         ) {
             $count2++;
             $pos  = 0;
@@ -341,24 +341,24 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                 $type = 'mysql';
             case '-':
                 $type = 'ansi';
-                $pos  = PMA_strpos($sql, "\n", $count2);
+                $pos  = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos($sql, "\n", $count2);
                 break;
             case '/':
                 $type = 'c';
-                $pos  = PMA_strpos($sql, '*/', $count2);
+                $pos  = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos($sql, '*/', $count2);
                 $pos  += 2;
                 break;
             default:
                 break;
             } // end switch
             $count2 = ($pos < $count2) ? $len : $pos;
-            $str    = PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
+            $str    = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
             PMA_SQP_arrayAdd($sql_array, 'comment_' . $type, $str, $arraysize);
             continue;
         } // end if
 
         // Checks for something inside quotation marks
-        if (PMA_strpos($quote_list, $c) !== false) {
+        if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos($quote_list, $c) !== false) {
             $startquotepos   = $count2;
             $quotetype       = $c;
             $count2++;
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
             $oldpos          = 0;
             do {
                 $oldpos = $pos;
-                $pos    = PMA_strpos(' ' . $sql, $quotetype, $oldpos + 1) - 1;
+                $pos    = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos(' ' . $sql, $quotetype, $oldpos + 1) - 1;
                 // ($pos === false)
                 if ($pos < 0) {
                     if ($c == '`') {
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                          *
                          * SELECT * FROM `table`
                          */
-                        $pos_quote_separator = PMA_strpos(
+                        $pos_quote_separator = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos(
                             ' ' . $sql, $GLOBALS['sql_delimiter'], $oldpos + 1
                         ) - 1;
                         if ($pos_quote_separator < 0) {
@@ -391,8 +391,8 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                             $pos = $len;
                         } else {
                             $len += 1;
-                            $sql = PMA_substr($sql, 0, $pos_quote_separator)
-                                . '`' . PMA_substr($sql, $pos_quote_separator);
+                            $sql = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, 0, $pos_quote_separator)
+                                . '`' . $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $pos_quote_separator);
                             $sql_array['raw'] = $sql;
                             $pos = $pos_quote_separator;
                         }
@@ -427,8 +427,8 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                     $pos ++;
                     continue;
                 } elseif (($pos + 1 < $len)
-                    && (PMA_substr($sql, $pos, 1) == $quotetype)
-                    && (PMA_substr($sql, $pos + 1, 1) == $quotetype)
+                    && ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $pos, 1) == $quotetype)
+                    && ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $pos + 1, 1) == $quotetype)
                 ) {
                     $pos = $pos + 2;
                     continue;
@@ -456,27 +456,27 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
             default:
                 break;
             } // end switch
-            $data = PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
+            $data = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
             PMA_SQP_arrayAdd($sql_array, $type, $data, $arraysize);
             continue;
         }
 
         // Checks for brackets
-        if (PMA_strpos($bracket_list, $c) !== false) {
+        if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos($bracket_list, $c) !== false) {
             // All bracket tokens are only one item long
             $this_was_bracket = true;
             $count2++;
             $type_type     = '';
-            if (PMA_strpos('([{', $c) !== false) {
+            if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos('([{', $c) !== false) {
                 $type_type = 'open';
             } else {
                 $type_type = 'close';
             }
 
             $type_style     = '';
-            if (PMA_strpos('()', $c) !== false) {
+            if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos('()', $c) !== false) {
                 $type_style = 'round';
-            } elseif (PMA_strpos('[]', $c) !== false) {
+            } elseif ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos('[]', $c) !== false) {
                 $type_style = 'square';
             } else {
                 $type_style = 'curly';
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
         var_dump(PMA_STR_isSqlIdentifier($c, false));
         var_dump($c == '@');
         var_dump($c == '.');
-        var_dump(PMA_STR_isDigit(PMA_substr($sql, $count2 + 1, 1)));
+        var_dump(PMA_STR_isDigit($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2 + 1, 1)));
         var_dump($previous_was_space);
         var_dump($previous_was_bracket);
         var_dump($previous_was_listsep);
@@ -503,11 +503,11 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
         if (PMA_STR_isSqlIdentifier($c, false)
             || $c == '@'
             || ($c == '.'
-            && PMA_STR_isDigit(PMA_substr($sql, $count2 + 1, 1))
+            && PMA_STR_isDigit($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2 + 1, 1))
             && ($previous_was_space || $previous_was_bracket || $previous_was_listsep))
         ) {
             /* DEBUG
-            echo PMA_substr($sql, $count2);
+            echo $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2);
             echo '<hr />';
             */
 
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                 $is_digit
                 && $c == '0'
                 && $count2 < $len
-                && PMA_substr($sql, $count2, 1) == 'x'
+                && $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2, 1) == 'x'
             );
             $is_float_digit          = $c == '.';
             $is_float_digit_exponent = false;
@@ -560,8 +560,8 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                 unset($pos);
             }
 
-            while (($count2 < $len) && PMA_STR_isSqlIdentifier(PMA_substr($sql, $count2, 1), ($is_sql_variable || $is_digit))) {
-                $c2 = PMA_substr($sql, $count2, 1);
+            while (($count2 < $len) && PMA_STR_isSqlIdentifier($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2, 1), ($is_sql_variable || $is_digit))) {
+                $c2 = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2, 1);
                 if ($is_sql_variable && ($c2 == '.')) {
                     $count2++;
                     continue;
@@ -575,7 +575,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                         $debugstr = __('Invalid Identifer')
                             . ' @ ' . ($count1+1) . "\n"
                             . 'STR: ' . htmlspecialchars(
-                                PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1)
+                                $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1)
                             );
                         PMA_SQP_throwError($debugstr, $sql);
                         return $sql_array;
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
             } // end while
 
             $l    = $count2 - $count1;
-            $str  = PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $l);
+            $str  = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $l);
 
             $type = '';
             if ($is_digit || $is_float_digit || $is_hex_digit) {
@@ -629,15 +629,15 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
         }
 
         // Checks for punct
-        if (PMA_strpos($allpunct_list, $c) !== false) {
-            while (($count2 < $len) && PMA_strpos($allpunct_list, PMA_substr($sql, $count2, 1)) !== false) {
+        if ($GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos($allpunct_list, $c) !== false) {
+            while (($count2 < $len) && $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strpos($allpunct_list, $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2, 1)) !== false) {
                 $count2++;
             }
             $l = $count2 - $count1;
             if ($l == 1) {
                 $punct_data = $c;
             } else {
-                $punct_data = PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $l);
+                $punct_data = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $l);
             }
 
             // Special case, sometimes, althought two characters are
@@ -678,12 +678,12 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
                 if (($first == ',') || ($first == ';') || ($first == '.') || ($first == '*')) {
                     $count2     = $count1 + 1;
                     $punct_data = $first;
-                } elseif (($last2 == '/*') || (($last2 == '--') && ($count2 == $len || PMA_substr($sql, $count2, 1) <= ' '))) {
+                } elseif (($last2 == '/*') || (($last2 == '--') && ($count2 == $len || $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count2, 1) <= ' '))) {
                     $count2     -= 2;
-                    $punct_data = PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
+                    $punct_data = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
                 } elseif (($last == '-') || ($last == '+') || ($last == '!')) {
                     $count2--;
-                    $punct_data = PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
+                    $punct_data = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1);
                 } elseif ($last != '~') {
                     /**
                      * @todo for negation operator, split in 2 tokens ?
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ function PMA_SQP_parse($sql)
         $count2++;
 
         $debugstr = 'C1 C2 LEN: ' . $count1 . ' ' . $count2 . ' ' . $len .  "\n"
-            . 'STR: ' . PMA_substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1) . "\n";
+            . 'STR: ' . $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($sql, $count1, $count2 - $count1) . "\n";
         PMA_SQP_bug($debugstr, $sql);
         return $sql_array;
 
@@ -1809,10 +1809,10 @@ function PMA_SQP_analyze($arr)
                     $seen_order_by = true;
                     // Here we assume that the ORDER BY keywords took
                     // exactly 8 characters.
-                    // We use PMA_substr() to be charset-safe; otherwise
+                    // We use $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr() to be charset-safe; otherwise
                     // if the table name contains accents, the unsorted
                     // query would be missing some characters.
-                    $unsorted_query = PMA_substr(
+                    $unsorted_query = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr(
                         $arr['raw'], 0, $arr[$i]['pos'] - 8
                     );
                     $in_order_by = true;
diff --git a/libraries/string.lib.php b/libraries/string.lib.php
index 604501689f..5baf9369d5 100644
--- a/libraries/string.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/string.lib.php
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ if (! defined('PHPMYADMIN')) {
 if (@function_exists('mb_strlen')) {
     mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
     include './libraries/string_mb.lib.php';
+    $PMA_String = new PMA_MBString();
 } else {
     include './libraries/string_native.lib.php';
+    $PMA_String = new PMA_NativeString();
 }
 
 /**
@@ -48,7 +50,7 @@ function PMA_STR_charIsEscaped($string, $pos, $start = 0)
 {
     $pos = max(intval($pos), 0);
     $start = max(intval($start), 0);
-    $len = PMA_strlen($string);
+    $len = $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::strlen($string);
     // Base case:
     // Check for string length or invalid input or special case of input
     // (pos == $start)
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ function PMA_STR_charIsEscaped($string, $pos, $start = 0)
 
     $pos--;
     $escaped     = false;
-    while ($pos >= $start && PMA_substr($string, $pos, 1) == '\\') {
+    while ($pos >= $start && $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr($string, $pos, 1) == '\\') {
         $escaped = !$escaped;
         $pos--;
     } // end while
diff --git a/libraries/string_mb.lib.php b/libraries/string_mb.lib.php
index 452debf1e5..5ff5a5beda 100644
--- a/libraries/string_mb.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/string_mb.lib.php
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 /* vim: set expandtab sw=4 ts=4 sts=4: */
 /**
- * Specialized String Functions for phpMyAdmin
+ * Specialized String Class for phpMyAdmin
  *
  * Defines a set of function callbacks that have a pure C version available if
  * the "ctype" extension is available, but otherwise have PHP versions to use
@@ -16,56 +16,57 @@ if (! defined('PHPMYADMIN')) {
     exit;
 }
 
-/**
- * Returns length of string depending on current charset.
- *
- * @param string $string string to count
- *
- * @return int string length
- */
-function PMA_strlen($string)
-{
-    return mb_strlen($string);
-}
+class PMA_MBString {
+	/**
+	 * Returns length of string depending on current charset.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $string string to count
+	 *
+	 * @return int string length
+	 */
+	public static function strlen($string)
+	{
+	    return mb_strlen($string);
+	}
 
-/**
- * Returns substring from string, works depending on current charset.
- *
- * @param string $string string to count
- * @param int    $start  start of substring
- * @param int    $length length of substring
- *
- * @return string the sub string
- */
-function PMA_substr($string, $start, $length = 2147483647)
-{
-    return mb_substr($string, $start, $length);
-}
+	/**
+	 * Returns substring from string, works depending on current charset.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $string string to count
+	 * @param int    $start  start of substring
+	 * @param int    $length length of substring
+	 *
+	 * @return string the sub string
+	 */
+	public static function substr($string, $start, $length = 2147483647)
+	{
+	    return mb_substr($string, $start, $length);
+	}
 
-/**
- * Returns postion of $needle in $haystack or false if not found
- *
- * @param string $haystack the string being checked
- * @param string $needle   the string to find in haystack
- * @param int    $offset   the search offset
- *
- * @return integer position of $needle in $haystack or false
- */
-function PMA_strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset = 0)
-{
-    return mb_strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset);
-}
+	/**
+	 * Returns postion of $needle in $haystack or false if not found
+	 *
+	 * @param string $haystack the string being checked
+	 * @param string $needle   the string to find in haystack
+	 * @param int    $offset   the search offset
+	 *
+	 * @return integer position of $needle in $haystack or false
+	 */
+	public static function strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset = 0)
+	{
+	    return mb_strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset);
+	}
 
-/**
- * Make a string lowercase
- *
- * @param string $string the string being lowercased
- *
- * @return string the lower case string
- */
-function PMA_strtolower($string)
-{
-    return mb_strtolower($string);
+	/**
+	 * Make a string lowercase
+	 *
+	 * @param string $string the string being lowercased
+	 *
+	 * @return string the lower case string
+	 */
+	public static function strtolower($string)
+	{
+	    return mb_strtolower($string);
+	}
 }
-
 ?>
diff --git a/libraries/string_native.lib.php b/libraries/string_native.lib.php
index 4154959efc..bab8b3719e 100644
--- a/libraries/string_native.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/string_native.lib.php
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 /* vim: set expandtab sw=4 ts=4 sts=4: */
 /**
- * Specialized String Functions for phpMyAdmin
+ * Specialized String Class for phpMyAdmin
  *
  * Defines a set of function callbacks that have a pure C version available if
  * the "ctype" extension is available, but otherwise have PHP versions to use
@@ -16,56 +16,57 @@ if (! defined('PHPMYADMIN')) {
     exit;
 }
 
-/**
- * Returns length of string depending on current charset.
- *
- * @param string $string string to count
- *
- * @return int string length
- */
-function PMA_strlen($string)
-{
-    return strlen($string);
-}
+class PMA_NativeString {
+	/**
+	 * Returns length of string depending on current charset.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $string string to count
+	 *
+	 * @return int string length
+	 */
+	public static function strlen($string)
+	{
+	    return strlen($string);
+	}
 
-/**
- * Returns substring from string, works depending on current charset.
- *
- * @param string $string string to count
- * @param int    $start  start of substring
- * @param int    $length length of substring
- *
- * @return string the sub string
- */
-function PMA_substr($string, $start, $length = 2147483647)
-{
-    return substr($string, $start, $length);
-}
+	/**
+	 * Returns substring from string, works depending on current charset.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $string string to count
+	 * @param int    $start  start of substring
+	 * @param int    $length length of substring
+	 *
+	 * @return string the sub string
+	 */
+	public static function substr($string, $start, $length = 2147483647)
+	{
+	    return substr($string, $start, $length);
+	}
 
-/**
- * Returns postion of $needle in $haystack or false if not found
- *
- * @param string $haystack the string being checked
- * @param string $needle   the string to find in haystack
- * @param int    $offset   the search offset
- *
- * @return integer position of $needle in $haystack or false
- */
-function PMA_strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset = 0)
-{
-    return strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset);
-}
-
-/**
- * Make a string lowercase
- *
- * @param string $string the string being lowercased
- *
- * @return string the lower case string
- */
-function PMA_strtolower($string)
-{
-    return strtolower($string);
-}
+	/**
+	 * Returns postion of $needle in $haystack or false if not found
+	 *
+	 * @param string $haystack the string being checked
+	 * @param string $needle   the string to find in haystack
+	 * @param int    $offset   the search offset
+	 *
+	 * @return integer position of $needle in $haystack or false
+	 */
+	public static function strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset = 0)
+	{
+	    return strpos($haystack, $needle, $offset);
+	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Make a string lowercase
+	 *
+	 * @param string $string the string being lowercased
+	 *
+	 * @return string the lower case string
+	 */
+	public static function strtolower($string)
+	{
+	    return strtolower($string);
+	}
+};
 ?>
diff --git a/test/libraries/PMA_STR_sub_test.php b/test/libraries/PMA_STR_sub_test.php
index 9a0bb8e6f6..e4bf4add7e 100644
--- a/test/libraries/PMA_STR_sub_test.php
+++ b/test/libraries/PMA_STR_sub_test.php
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class PMA_STR_Sub_Test extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         }
         $this->assertEquals(
             'čšě',
-            PMA_substr('čšěčščěš', 0, 3)
+            $GLOBALS['PMA_String']::substr('čšěčščěš', 0, 3)
         );
     }
 }