diff --git a/vlib/v/gen/c/consts_and_globals.v b/vlib/v/gen/c/consts_and_globals.v
index 71e8930013..0a4ec91b9c 100644
--- a/vlib/v/gen/c/consts_and_globals.v
+++ b/vlib/v/gen/c/consts_and_globals.v
@@ -227,10 +227,15 @@ fn (mut g Gen) const_decl_precomputed(mod string, name string, field_name string
 			// TODO: ^ the above for strings, cause:
 			// `error C2099: initializer is not a constant` errors in MSVC,
 			// so fall back to the delayed initialisation scheme:
+			init := if typ == ast.string_type {
+				'_SLIT("${escaped_val}")'
+			} else {
+				'(${styp})"${escaped_val}"'
+			}
 			g.global_const_defs[util.no_dots(field_name)] = GlobalConstDef{
 				mod:   mod
 				def:   '${styp} ${cname}; // str inited later'
-				init:  '\t${cname} = _SLIT("${escaped_val}");'
+				init:  '\t${cname} = ${init};'
 				order: -1
 			}
 			if g.is_autofree {
diff --git a/vlib/v/tests/consts/const_cstr_test.v b/vlib/v/tests/consts/const_cstr_test.v
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..905f3e2592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/v/tests/consts/const_cstr_test.v
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+pub const global_text = c'Text'
+pub const global_ref = &global_text
+pub const global_copy = global_text
+
+fn test_main() {
+	local_copy := global_text
+	println('${global_text}')
+	println('${global_ref}')
+	println('${local_copy}')
+	println('${global_copy}')
+	assert *global_copy == c'Text'
+	assert **global_ref == c'Text'
+	assert *global_text == c'Text'
+}