diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.cxx b/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.cxx
index 83c8179cfd..eac97b18ed 100755
--- a/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.cxx
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.cxx
@@ -70,18 +70,3 @@ string_to_wstring(wstring &result, const string &source) {
   return success;
 }
 #endif  // _WIN32
-
-#ifdef _WIN32
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-//     Function: wstring ostream operator
-//  Description: Converts the wstring to utf-8 for output.
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-ostream &
-operator << (ostream &out, const wstring &str) {
-  string result;
-  if (wstring_to_string(result, str)) {
-    out << result;
-  }
-  return out;
-}
-#endif  // _WIN32
diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.h b/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.h
index 8061b9c0f5..5d9fca9fc3 100755
--- a/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.h
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/wstring_encode.h
@@ -25,7 +25,16 @@ using namespace std;
 bool wstring_to_string(string &result, const wstring &source);
 bool string_to_wstring(wstring &result, const string &source);
 
-ostream &operator << (ostream &out, const wstring &str);
+// We declare this inline so it won't conflict with the similar
+// function defined in Panda's textEncoder.h.
+inline ostream &operator << (ostream &out, const wstring &str) {
+  string result;
+  if (wstring_to_string(result, str)) {
+    out << result;
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
 #endif // _WIN32
 
 #endif
diff --git a/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.I b/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.I
index 1b010999a8..aa0690337a 100644
--- a/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.I
+++ b/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.I
@@ -568,3 +568,16 @@ INLINE wstring TextEncoder::
 decode_text(const string &text) const {
   return decode_text(text, _encoding);
 }
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: wstring ostream operator
+//  Description: Uses the current default encoding to output the
+//               wstring.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+INLINE ostream &
+operator << (ostream &out, const wstring &str) {
+  TextEncoder encoder;
+  encoder.set_wtext(str);
+  out << encoder.get_text();
+  return out;
+}
diff --git a/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.cxx b/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.cxx
index 9edd4e594e..de5b625a86 100644
--- a/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.cxx
+++ b/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.cxx
@@ -385,16 +385,3 @@ operator >> (istream &in, TextEncoder::Encoding &encoding) {
 
   return in;
 }
-
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-//     Function: wstring ostream operator
-//  Description: Uses the current default encoding to output the
-//               wstring.
-////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-ostream &
-operator << (ostream &out, const wstring &str) {
-  TextEncoder encoder;
-  encoder.set_wtext(str);
-  out << encoder.get_text();
-  return out;
-}
diff --git a/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.h b/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.h
index 461216a18a..99d1f12c95 100644
--- a/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.h
+++ b/dtool/src/dtoolutil/textEncoder.h
@@ -120,7 +120,11 @@ operator >> (istream &in, TextEncoder::Encoding &encoding);
 
 // We'll define the output operator for wstring here, too.  Presumably
 // this will not be automatically defined by any system libraries.
-EXPCL_DTOOL ostream &
+
+// This function is declared inline to minimize the risk of link
+// conflicts should another third-party module also define the same
+// output operator.
+INLINE EXPCL_DTOOL ostream &
 operator << (ostream &out, const wstring &str);
 
 #include "textEncoder.I"
diff --git a/makepanda/makepanda.py b/makepanda/makepanda.py
index 5ed2f79af9..839aa1c2a7 100755
--- a/makepanda/makepanda.py
+++ b/makepanda/makepanda.py
@@ -3820,6 +3820,7 @@ if (RTDIST or RUNTIME):
   OPTS += ['ZLIB', 'JPEG', 'PNG', 'MSIMG']
   TargetAdd('plugin_plugin.obj', opts=OPTS, input='p3d_plugin_composite1.cxx')
   TargetAdd('plugin_mkdir_complete.obj', opts=OPTS, input='mkdir_complete.cxx')
+  TargetAdd('plugin_wstring_encode.obj', opts=OPTS, input='wstring_encode.cxx')
   TargetAdd('plugin_parse_color.obj', opts=OPTS, input='parse_color.cxx')
   TargetAdd('plugin_get_twirl_data.obj', opts=OPTS, input='get_twirl_data.cxx')
   TargetAdd('plugin_find_root_dir.obj', opts=OPTS, input='find_root_dir.cxx')
@@ -3833,6 +3834,7 @@ if (RTDIST or RUNTIME):
     for fname in ["p3d_plugin.dll", "libp3d_plugin_static.ilb"]:
       TargetAdd(fname, input='plugin_plugin.obj')
       TargetAdd(fname, input='plugin_mkdir_complete.obj')
+      TargetAdd(fname, input='plugin_wstring_encode.obj')
       TargetAdd(fname, input='plugin_parse_color.obj')
       TargetAdd(fname, input='plugin_find_root_dir.obj')
       if (sys.platform == "darwin"):
@@ -3913,6 +3915,7 @@ if (RUNTIME and PkgSkip("NPAPI")==0):
   TargetAdd('nppanda3d.plugin', input='plugin_common.obj')
   TargetAdd('nppanda3d.plugin', input='plugin_parse_color.obj')
   TargetAdd('nppanda3d.plugin', input='plugin_get_twirl_data.obj')
+  TargetAdd('nppanda3d.plugin', input='plugin_wstring_encode.obj')
   TargetAdd('nppanda3d.plugin', input='plugin_npapi_nppanda3d_composite1.obj')
   if (sys.platform.startswith("win")):
     TargetAdd('nppanda3d.plugin', input='nppanda3d.res')
@@ -3942,6 +3945,7 @@ if (RUNTIME and sys.platform.startswith("win")):
   TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='plugin_common.obj')
   TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='plugin_parse_color.obj')
   TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='plugin_get_twirl_data.obj')
+  TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='plugin_wstring_encode.obj')
   TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='plugin_activex_p3dactivex_composite1.obj')
   TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='P3DActiveX.res')
   TargetAdd('p3dactivex.ocx', input='P3DActiveX.def', ipath=OPTS)
@@ -3973,6 +3977,7 @@ if (RUNTIME):
   TargetAdd('panda3d.exe', input='plugin_standalone_panda3dMain.obj')
   TargetAdd('panda3d.exe', input='plugin_standalone_panda3dBase.obj')
   TargetAdd('panda3d.exe', input='plugin_common.obj')
+  TargetAdd('panda3d.exe', input='plugin_wstring_encode.obj')
   if (sys.platform == "darwin"):
     TargetAdd('panda3d.exe', input='plugin_find_root_dir_assist.obj')
   elif (sys.platform.startswith("win")):
@@ -4004,6 +4009,7 @@ if (RUNTIME):
     TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='plugin_standalone_panda3d.obj')
     TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='plugin_standalone_panda3dWinMain.obj')
     TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='plugin_standalone_panda3dBase.obj')
+    TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='plugin_wstring_encode.obj')
     TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='plugin_common.obj')
     TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='libpandaexpress.dll')
     TargetAdd('panda3dw.exe', input='libp3dtoolconfig.dll')