diff --git a/src/app/validator.rs b/src/app/validator.rs
index 0b897e567e8..4446e990f8c 100644
--- a/src/app/validator.rs
+++ b/src/app/validator.rs
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ impl<'a, 'b, 'c, 'z> Validator<'a, 'b, 'c, 'z> {
                     sdebugln!("error");
                     return Err(Error::value_validation(
                         Some(arg),
-                        (*e).to_string_lossy().to_string(),
+                        (*e).to_string(),
                         self.0.app.color(),
                     ));
                 } else {
diff --git a/src/args/arg.rs b/src/args/arg.rs
index d827826fdbb..19f27be049a 100644
--- a/src/args/arg.rs
+++ b/src/args/arg.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ where
     #[doc(hidden)]
     pub validator: Option<Rc<Fn(String) -> Result<(), String>>>,
     #[doc(hidden)]
-    pub validator_os: Option<Rc<Fn(&OsStr) -> Result<(), OsString>>>,
+    pub validator_os: Option<Rc<Fn(&OsStr) -> Result<(), String>>>,
     #[doc(hidden)]
     pub val_delim: Option<char>,
     #[doc(hidden)]
@@ -1848,9 +1848,9 @@ impl<'a, 'b> Arg<'a, 'b> {
     /// # use clap::{App, Arg};
     /// # use std::ffi::{OsStr, OsString};
     /// # use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
-    /// fn has_ampersand(v: &OsStr) -> Result<(), OsString> {
+    /// fn has_ampersand(v: &OsStr) -> Result<(), String> {
     ///     if v.as_bytes().iter().any(|b| *b == b'&') { return Ok(()); }
-    ///     Err(OsString::from("The value did not contain the required & sigil"))
+    ///     Err(String::from("The value did not contain the required & sigil"))
     /// }
     /// let res = App::new("prog")
     ///     .arg(Arg::with_name("file")
@@ -1869,7 +1869,8 @@ impl<'a, 'b> Arg<'a, 'b> {
     /// [`Err(String)`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/result/enum.Result.html#variant.Err
     /// [`Rc`]: https://doc.rust-lang.org/std/rc/struct.Rc.html
     pub fn validator_os<F, O>(mut self, f: F) -> Self
-        where F: Fn(&OsStr) -> Result<O, OsString> + 'static
+    where
+        F: Fn(&OsStr) -> Result<O, String> + 'static,
     {
         self.validator_os = Some(Rc::new(move |s| f(s).map(|_| ())));
         self