diff --git a/talk/app/webrtc/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc b/talk/app/webrtc/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc
index 755698e379..3a7ff21e77 100644
--- a/talk/app/webrtc/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc
+++ b/talk/app/webrtc/java/jni/jni_helpers.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 /*
  * libjingle
  * Copyright 2015 Google Inc.
@@ -33,8 +32,6 @@
 #include <sys/syscall.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
-#include "unicode/unistr.h"
-
 namespace webrtc_jni {
 
 static JavaVM* g_jvm = nullptr;
@@ -46,8 +43,6 @@ static pthread_once_t g_jni_ptr_once = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT;
 // were attached by the JVM because of a Java->native call.
 static pthread_key_t g_jni_ptr;
 
-using icu::UnicodeString;
-
 JavaVM *GetJVM() {
   RTC_CHECK(g_jvm) << "JNI_OnLoad failed to run?";
   return g_jvm;
@@ -232,22 +227,20 @@ bool IsNull(JNIEnv* jni, jobject obj) {
 
 // Given a UTF-8 encoded |native| string return a new (UTF-16) jstring.
 jstring JavaStringFromStdString(JNIEnv* jni, const std::string& native) {
-  UnicodeString ustr(UnicodeString::fromUTF8(native));
-  jstring jstr = jni->NewString(ustr.getBuffer(), ustr.length());
-  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "error during NewString";
+  jstring jstr = jni->NewStringUTF(native.c_str());
+  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "error during NewStringUTF";
   return jstr;
 }
 
 // Given a (UTF-16) jstring return a new UTF-8 native string.
 std::string JavaToStdString(JNIEnv* jni, const jstring& j_string) {
-  const jchar* jchars = jni->GetStringChars(j_string, NULL);
-  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "Error during GetStringChars";
-  UnicodeString ustr(jchars, jni->GetStringLength(j_string));
-  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "Error during GetStringLength";
-  jni->ReleaseStringChars(j_string, jchars);
-  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "Error during ReleaseStringChars";
-  std::string ret;
-  return ustr.toUTF8String(ret);
+  const char* chars = jni->GetStringUTFChars(j_string, NULL);
+  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "Error during GetStringUTFChars";
+  std::string str(chars, jni->GetStringUTFLength(j_string));
+  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "Error during GetStringUTFLength";
+  jni->ReleaseStringUTFChars(j_string, chars);
+  CHECK_EXCEPTION(jni) << "Error during ReleaseStringUTFChars";
+  return str;
 }
 
 // Return the (singleton) Java Enum object corresponding to |index|;
diff --git a/talk/build/common.gypi b/talk/build/common.gypi
index 36a96c5c55..48059e2937 100644
--- a/talk/build/common.gypi
+++ b/talk/build/common.gypi
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
     ],
     # Disable these to not build components which can be externally provided.
     'build_expat%': 1,
-    'build_icu%': 1,
     'build_json%': 1,
     'build_libsrtp%': 1,
     'build_libyuv%': 1,
diff --git a/talk/libjingle.gyp b/talk/libjingle.gyp
index 81d723a0d9..cd5385c11f 100755
--- a/talk/libjingle.gyp
+++ b/talk/libjingle.gyp
@@ -62,11 +62,6 @@
             '<(libyuv_dir)/include',
           ],
           'conditions': [
-            ['build_icu==1', {
-              'dependencies': [
-                '<(DEPTH)/third_party/icu/icu.gyp:icuuc',
-              ],
-            }],
             ['OS=="linux"', {
               'defines': [
                 'HAVE_GTK',
diff --git a/webrtc/build/common.gypi b/webrtc/build/common.gypi
index 2b0516863e..fa94895ca0 100644
--- a/webrtc/build/common.gypi
+++ b/webrtc/build/common.gypi
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@
 
     # Disable these to not build components which can be externally provided.
     'build_expat%': 1,
-    'build_icu%': 1,
     'build_json%': 1,
     'build_libjpeg%': 1,
     'build_libvpx%': 1,
diff --git a/webrtc/build/webrtc.gni b/webrtc/build/webrtc.gni
index 1d33e892d7..26f74b777d 100644
--- a/webrtc/build/webrtc.gni
+++ b/webrtc/build/webrtc.gni
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ declare_args() {
 
   # Disable these to not build components which can be externally provided.
   rtc_build_expat = true
-  rtc_build_icu = true
   rtc_build_json = true
   rtc_build_libjpeg = true
   rtc_build_libvpx = true
diff --git a/webrtc/examples/android/media_demo/jni/jni_helpers.cc b/webrtc/examples/android/media_demo/jni/jni_helpers.cc
index b0d1a7425c..7a4f5e4f6c 100644
--- a/webrtc/examples/android/media_demo/jni/jni_helpers.cc
+++ b/webrtc/examples/android/media_demo/jni/jni_helpers.cc
@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@
 
 #include <limits>
 
-#include "unicode/unistr.h"
-
-using icu::UnicodeString;
-
 jmethodID GetMethodID(JNIEnv* jni, jclass c, const std::string& name,
                       const char* signature) {
   jmethodID m = jni->GetMethodID(c, name.c_str(), signature);
@@ -36,14 +32,13 @@ jlong jlongFromPointer(void* ptr) {
 
 // Given a (UTF-16) jstring return a new UTF-8 native string.
 std::string JavaToStdString(JNIEnv* jni, const jstring& j_string) {
-  const jchar* jchars = jni->GetStringChars(j_string, NULL);
-  CHECK_JNI_EXCEPTION(jni, "Error during GetStringChars");
-  UnicodeString ustr(jchars, jni->GetStringLength(j_string));
-  CHECK_JNI_EXCEPTION(jni, "Error during GetStringLength");
-  jni->ReleaseStringChars(j_string, jchars);
-  CHECK_JNI_EXCEPTION(jni, "Error during ReleaseStringChars");
-  std::string ret;
-  return ustr.toUTF8String(ret);
+  const char* chars = jni->GetStringUTFChars(j_string, NULL);
+  CHECK_JNI_EXCEPTION(jni, "Error during GetStringUTFChars");
+  std::string str(chars, jni->GetStringUTFLength(j_string));
+  CHECK_JNI_EXCEPTION(jni, "Error during GetStringUTFLength");
+  jni->ReleaseStringUTFChars(j_string, chars);
+  CHECK_JNI_EXCEPTION(jni, "Error during ReleaseStringUTFChars");
+  return str;
 }
 
 ClassReferenceHolder::ClassReferenceHolder(JNIEnv* jni, const char** classes,
diff --git a/webrtc/webrtc_examples.gyp b/webrtc/webrtc_examples.gyp
index 51a8265bab..d114b8dfeb 100644
--- a/webrtc/webrtc_examples.gyp
+++ b/webrtc/webrtc_examples.gyp
@@ -26,13 +26,6 @@
             'examples/android/media_demo/jni/on_load.cc',
             'examples/android/media_demo/jni/voice_engine_jni.cc',
           ],
-          'conditions': [
-            ['build_icu==1', {
-              'dependencies': [
-                '<(DEPTH)/third_party/icu/icu.gyp:icuuc',
-              ],
-            }],
-          ],
           'variables': {
             # This library uses native JNI exports; tell GYP so that the
             # required symbols will be kept.