diff --git a/gst/gstelementdetails.h b/gst/gstelementdetails.h
index b59878a89a..fe946bac2a 100644
--- a/gst/gstelementdetails.h
+++ b/gst/gstelementdetails.h
@@ -35,33 +35,21 @@ __gst_element_details_clear (GstElementDetails * dp)
   memset (dp, 0, sizeof (GstElementDetails));
 }
 
-#define VALIDATE_SET(__dest, __src, __entry)                            \
-G_STMT_START {                                                          \
-  if (g_utf8_validate (__src->__entry, -1, NULL)) {                     \
-    __dest->__entry = g_strdup (__src->__entry);                        \
-  } else {                                                              \
-    g_warning ("Invalid UTF-8 in " G_STRINGIFY (__entry) ": %s",        \
-        __src->__entry);                                                \
-    __dest->__entry = g_strdup ("[ERROR: invalid UTF-8]");              \
-  }                                                                     \
-} G_STMT_END
-
-static inline void
-__gst_element_details_set (GstElementDetails * dest,
-    const GstElementDetails * src)
-{
-  VALIDATE_SET (dest, src, longname);
-  VALIDATE_SET (dest, src, klass);
-  VALIDATE_SET (dest, src, description);
-  VALIDATE_SET (dest, src, author);
-}
-
 static inline void
 __gst_element_details_copy (GstElementDetails * dest,
     const GstElementDetails * src)
 {
-  __gst_element_details_clear (dest);
-  __gst_element_details_set (dest, src);
+  g_free (dest->longname);
+  dest->longname = g_strdup (src->longname);
+
+  g_free (dest->klass);
+  dest->klass = g_strdup (src->klass);
+
+  g_free (dest->description);
+  dest->description = g_strdup (src->description);
+
+  g_free (dest->author);
+  dest->author = g_strdup (src->author);
 }
 
 G_END_DECLS
diff --git a/gst/gstregistrychunks.c b/gst/gstregistrychunks.c
index 684a18153c..4556eb42e2 100644
--- a/gst/gstregistrychunks.c
+++ b/gst/gstregistrychunks.c
@@ -207,6 +207,16 @@ gst_registry_chunks_save_pad_template (GList ** list,
   return TRUE;
 }
 
+#define VALIDATE_UTF8(__details, __entry)                                   \
+G_STMT_START {                                                              \
+  if (!g_utf8_validate (__details->__entry, -1, NULL)) {                    \
+    g_warning ("Invalid UTF-8 in " G_STRINGIFY (__entry) ": %s",            \
+        __details->__entry);                                                \
+    g_free (__details->__entry);                                            \
+    __details->__entry = g_strdup ("[ERROR: invalid UTF-8]");               \
+  }                                                                         \
+} G_STMT_END
+
 /*
  * gst_registry_chunks_save_feature:
  *
@@ -230,6 +240,14 @@ gst_registry_chunks_save_feature (GList ** list, GstPluginFeature * feature)
   if (GST_IS_ELEMENT_FACTORY (feature)) {
     GstRegistryChunkElementFactory *ef;
     GstElementFactory *factory = GST_ELEMENT_FACTORY (feature);
+    GstElementDetails *details = &factory->details;
+
+    /* do the utf-8 validation of the element factory details here to avoid
+     * doing it every time we load */
+    VALIDATE_UTF8 (details, longname);
+    VALIDATE_UTF8 (details, klass);
+    VALIDATE_UTF8 (details, description);
+    VALIDATE_UTF8 (details, author);
 
     /* Initialize with zeroes because of struct padding and
      * valgrind complaining about copying unitialized memory
@@ -285,10 +303,10 @@ gst_registry_chunks_save_feature (GList ** list, GstPluginFeature * feature)
     }
 
     /* pack element factory strings */
-    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, factory->details.author);
-    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, factory->details.description);
-    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, factory->details.klass);
-    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, factory->details.longname);
+    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, details->author);
+    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, details->description);
+    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, details->klass);
+    gst_registry_chunks_save_const_string (list, details->longname);
     if (factory->meta_data) {
       gst_registry_chunks_save_string (list,
           gst_structure_to_string (factory->meta_data));