diff --git a/tcMenuJavaApi/src/main/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValTextParser.java b/tcMenuJavaApi/src/main/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValTextParser.java
index effc0060..1712cf3e 100644
--- a/tcMenuJavaApi/src/main/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValTextParser.java
+++ b/tcMenuJavaApi/src/main/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValTextParser.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
  */
 public class TagValTextParser {
     public static final char FIELD_TERMINATOR = '|';
+    private static final int MAX_FIELD_EXPECTED = 256;
     private final Map<String, String> keyToValue = new HashMap<>(32);
 
     /**
@@ -48,27 +49,27 @@ else if(key.charAt(0) == MenuCommandProtocol.PROTO_END_OF_MSG) {
     }
 
     private String readString(ByteBuffer buffer) {
-        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(32);
-        while(buffer.hasRemaining()) {
-            char ch = (char) buffer.get();
-            if(ch == MenuCommandProtocol.PROTO_END_OF_MSG) {
+        byte rawData[] = new byte[MAX_FIELD_EXPECTED];
+        int position = 0;
+        while(buffer.hasRemaining() && position < MAX_FIELD_EXPECTED) {
+            var by = buffer.get();
+            if(by == MenuCommandProtocol.PROTO_END_OF_MSG) {
                 return "\u0002";
             }
-            else if(ch == '\\') {
+            else if(by == '\\') {
                 // special escape case allows anything to be sent
-                ch = (char) buffer.get();
-                sb.append(ch);
+                rawData[position++] = buffer.get();
             }
-            else if(ch == '=' || ch == TagValTextParser.FIELD_TERMINATOR) {
+            else if(by == '=' || by == TagValTextParser.FIELD_TERMINATOR) {
                 // end of current token
-                return sb.toString();
+                return new String(rawData, 0, position);
             }
             else {
                 // within current token
-                sb.append(ch);
+                rawData[position++] = by;
             }
         }
-        return sb.toString();
+        return new String(rawData, 0, position);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tcMenuJavaApi/src/test/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValMenuCommandProtocolTest.java b/tcMenuJavaApi/src/test/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValMenuCommandProtocolTest.java
index 35d47462..57fb1f73 100644
--- a/tcMenuJavaApi/src/test/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValMenuCommandProtocolTest.java
+++ b/tcMenuJavaApi/src/test/java/com/thecoderscorner/menu/remote/protocol/TagValMenuCommandProtocolTest.java
@@ -299,6 +299,14 @@ public void testReceiveActionMenuItem() throws IOException {
         assertEquals(0, actMenu.getSubMenuId());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testReceiveUTF8Value() throws IOException {
+        MenuCommand cmd = protocol.fromChannel(toBuffer(ACTION_BOOT_ITEM, "RO=0|PI=0|ID=1|NM=á č ň ť|\u0002"));
+        assertTrue(cmd instanceof MenuActionBootCommand);
+        MenuActionBootCommand actMenu = (MenuActionBootCommand) cmd;
+        assertEquals("á č ň ť", actMenu.getMenuItem().getName());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testReceiveBooleanMenuItem() throws IOException {
         MenuCommand cmd = protocol.fromChannel(toBuffer(BOOLEAN_BOOT_ITEM, "PI=0|RO=1|VI=1|ID=1|BN=1|NM=BoolItem|VC=1|\u0002"));