diff --git a/gst/gststructure.c b/gst/gststructure.c
index e668762006..2d6c3e84fd 100644
--- a/gst/gststructure.c
+++ b/gst/gststructure.c
@@ -1899,7 +1899,7 @@ gst_structure_parse_value (gchar * str,
     type = gst_structure_gtype_from_abbr (type_name);
     *type_end = c;
 
-    if (type == G_TYPE_INVALID)
+    if (G_UNLIKELY (type == G_TYPE_INVALID))
       return FALSE;
   }
 
@@ -1913,12 +1913,12 @@ gst_structure_parse_value (gchar * str,
     ret = gst_structure_parse_array (s, &s, value, type);
   } else {
     value_s = s;
-    if (!gst_structure_parse_string (s, &value_end, &s))
+    if (G_UNLIKELY (!gst_structure_parse_string (s, &value_end, &s)))
       return FALSE;
 
     c = *value_end;
     *value_end = '\0';
-    if (type == G_TYPE_INVALID) {
+    if (G_UNLIKELY (type == G_TYPE_INVALID)) {
       GType try_types[] =
           { G_TYPE_INT, G_TYPE_DOUBLE, GST_TYPE_FRACTION, G_TYPE_BOOLEAN,
         G_TYPE_STRING
@@ -1936,6 +1936,8 @@ gst_structure_parse_value (gchar * str,
       g_value_init (value, type);
 
       ret = gst_value_deserialize (value, value_s);
+      if (G_UNLIKELY (!ret))
+        g_value_unset (value);
     }
     *value_end = c;
   }
@@ -1989,7 +1991,7 @@ gst_structure_from_string (const gchar * string, gchar ** end)
   structure = gst_structure_empty_new (name);
   *w = save;
 
-  if (structure == NULL)
+  if (G_UNLIKELY (structure == NULL))
     goto error;
 
   do {
diff --git a/gst/gstvalue.c b/gst/gstvalue.c
index 8cbb61d406..3e0b495092 100644
--- a/gst/gstvalue.c
+++ b/gst/gstvalue.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ static gint gst_value_compare_with_func (const GValue * value1,
     const GValue * value2, GstValueCompareFunc compare);
 
 static gchar *gst_string_wrap (const gchar * s);
+static gchar *gst_string_take_and_wrap (gchar * s);
 static gchar *gst_string_unwrap (const gchar * s);
 
 /********
@@ -1338,7 +1339,7 @@ gst_value_serialize_structure (const GValue * value)
 {
   GstStructure *structure = g_value_get_boxed (value);
 
-  return gst_string_wrap (gst_structure_to_string (structure));
+  return gst_string_take_and_wrap (gst_structure_to_string (structure));
 }
 
 static gboolean
@@ -1351,14 +1352,15 @@ gst_value_deserialize_structure (GValue * dest, const gchar * s)
   } else {
     gchar *str = gst_string_unwrap (s);
 
-    if (!str)
+    if (G_UNLIKELY (!str))
       return FALSE;
 
     structure = gst_structure_from_string (str, NULL);
+    g_free (str);
   }
 
-  if (structure) {
-    g_value_set_boxed (dest, structure);
+  if (G_LIKELY (structure)) {
+    g_value_take_boxed (dest, structure);
     return TRUE;
   }
   return FALSE;
@@ -1789,49 +1791,51 @@ gst_value_compare_string (const GValue * value1, const GValue * value2)
   }
 }
 
-static gchar *
-gst_string_wrap (const gchar * s)
+static int
+gst_string_measure_wrapping (const gchar * s)
 {
-  const gchar *t;
   int len;
-  gchar *d, *e;
   gboolean wrap = FALSE;
 
+  if (s == NULL)
+    return -1;
+
   len = 0;
-  t = s;
-  if (!s)
-    return NULL;
-  while (*t) {
-    if (GST_ASCII_IS_STRING (*t)) {
+  while (*s) {
+    if (GST_ASCII_IS_STRING (*s)) {
       len++;
-    } else if (*t < 0x20 || *t >= 0x7f) {
+    } else if (*s < 0x20 || *s >= 0x7f) {
       wrap = TRUE;
       len += 4;
     } else {
       wrap = TRUE;
       len += 2;
     }
-    t++;
+    s++;
   }
 
-  if (!wrap)
-    return g_strdup (s);
+  return wrap ? len : -1;
+}
+
+static gchar *
+gst_string_wrap_inner (const gchar * s, int len)
+{
+  gchar *d, *e;
 
   e = d = g_malloc (len + 3);
 
   *e++ = '\"';
-  t = s;
-  while (*t) {
-    if (GST_ASCII_IS_STRING (*t)) {
-      *e++ = *t++;
-    } else if (*t < 0x20 || *t >= 0x7f) {
+  while (*s) {
+    if (GST_ASCII_IS_STRING (*s)) {
+      *e++ = *s++;
+    } else if (*s < 0x20 || *s >= 0x7f) {
       *e++ = '\\';
-      *e++ = '0' + ((*(guchar *) t) >> 6);
-      *e++ = '0' + (((*t) >> 3) & 0x7);
-      *e++ = '0' + ((*t++) & 0x7);
+      *e++ = '0' + ((*(guchar *) s) >> 6);
+      *e++ = '0' + (((*s) >> 3) & 0x7);
+      *e++ = '0' + ((*s++) & 0x7);
     } else {
       *e++ = '\\';
-      *e++ = *t++;
+      *e++ = *s++;
     }
   }
   *e++ = '\"';
@@ -1840,6 +1844,34 @@ gst_string_wrap (const gchar * s)
   return d;
 }
 
+/* Do string wrapping/escaping */
+static gchar *
+gst_string_wrap (const gchar * s)
+{
+  int len = gst_string_measure_wrapping (s);
+
+  if (len < 0)
+    return g_strdup (s);
+
+  return gst_string_wrap_inner (s, len);
+}
+
+/* Same as above, but take ownership of the string */
+static gchar *
+gst_string_take_and_wrap (gchar * s)
+{
+  gchar *out;
+  int len = gst_string_measure_wrapping (s);
+
+  if (len < 0)
+    return s;
+
+  out = gst_string_wrap_inner (s, len);
+  g_free (s);
+
+  return out;
+}
+
 /*
  * This function takes a string delimited with double quotes (")
  * and unescapes any \xxx octal numbers.
@@ -1942,7 +1974,7 @@ gst_value_deserialize_string (GValue * dest, const gchar * s)
   } else {
     gchar *str = gst_string_unwrap (s);
 
-    if (!str)
+    if (G_UNLIKELY (!str))
       return FALSE;
     g_value_take_string (dest, str);
   }