diff --git a/lib/utilunix.c b/lib/utilunix.c
index 6eec8055d..2252933dc 100644
--- a/lib/utilunix.c
+++ b/lib/utilunix.c
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@
 #include <grp.h>
 
 #include "lib/global.h"
+#include "lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.h" /* VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX */
+
 #include "src/execute.h"
 #include "src/wtools.h"         /* message() */
 
@@ -591,6 +593,8 @@ custom_canonicalize_pathname (char *path, CANON_PATH_FLAGS flags)
 
     if (flags & CANON_PATH_REMDOUBLEDOTS)
     {
+        const size_t enc_prefix_len = strlen (VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX);
+
         /* Collapse "/.." with the previous part of path */
         p = lpath;
         while (p[0] && p[1] && p[2])
@@ -626,8 +630,8 @@ custom_canonicalize_pathname (char *path, CANON_PATH_FLAGS flags)
                 {
                     /* "token/../foo" -> "foo" */
 #if HAVE_CHARSET
-                    /* special case: remove encoding */
-                    if (strncmp (s, "#enc:", 5) == 0)
+                    if (strncmp (s, VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX, enc_prefix_len) == 0)
+                        /* special case: remove encoding */
                         str_move (s, p + 1);
                     else
 #endif /* HAVE_CHARSET */
@@ -653,7 +657,7 @@ custom_canonicalize_pathname (char *path, CANON_PATH_FLAGS flags)
                 if (s == lpath + 1)
                     s[0] = 0;
 #if HAVE_CHARSET
-                else if (strncmp (s, "#enc:", 5) == 0)
+                else if (strncmp (s, VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX, enc_prefix_len) == 0)
                 {
                     /* special case: remove encoding */
                     s[0] = '.';
diff --git a/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.c b/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.c
index d71786560..641c172e4 100644
--- a/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.c
+++ b/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.c
@@ -373,11 +373,11 @@ vfs_get_encoding (const char *path)
     char *slash;
 
     work = g_strdup (path);
-    semi = g_strrstr (work, "#enc:");
+    semi = g_strrstr (work, VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX);
 
     if (semi != NULL)
     {
-        semi += 5 * sizeof (char);
+        semi += strlen (VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX); /* skip "#enc:" */
         slash = strchr (semi, PATH_SEP);
         if (slash != NULL)
             slash[0] = '\0';
@@ -432,8 +432,8 @@ _vfs_translate_path (const char *path, int size, GIConv defcnv, GString * buffer
 
     size = (size > 0) ? size : (signed int) strlen (path);
 
-    /* try found #end: */
-    semi = g_strrstr_len (path, size, "#enc:");
+    /* try found #enc: */
+    semi = g_strrstr_len (path, size, VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX);
     if (semi != NULL)
     {
         char encoding[16];
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ _vfs_translate_path (const char *path, int size, GIConv defcnv, GString * buffer
             return state;
         /* now can be translated part after #enc: */
 
-        semi += 5;
+        semi += strlen (VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX);
         slash = strchr (semi, PATH_SEP);
         /* ignore slashes after size; */
         if (slash - path >= size)
diff --git a/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.h b/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.h
index 25877dde9..48c2d4386 100644
--- a/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.h
+++ b/lib/vfs/mc-vfs/vfs.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ char *vfs_translate_url (const char *url);
 struct vfs_class *vfs_get_class (const char *path);
 vfs_class_flags_t vfs_file_class_flags (const char *filename);
 
+#define VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX "#enc:"
 /* return encoding after last #enc: or NULL, if part does not contain #enc:
  * return static buffer */
 const char *vfs_get_encoding (const char *path);
@@ -203,7 +204,7 @@ vfs_canon (const char *path)
 #endif /* ENABLE_VFS */
 
 char *vfs_get_current_dir (void);
-/* translate path back to terminal encoding, remove all #enc: 
+/* translate path back to terminal encoding, remove all #enc:
  * every invalid character is replaced with question mark
  * return static buffer */
 char *vfs_translate_path (const char *path);
diff --git a/src/screen.c b/src/screen.c
index 49ae117a7..f1ff120fd 100644
--- a/src/screen.c
+++ b/src/screen.c
@@ -1059,7 +1059,7 @@ paint_panel (WPanel * panel)
 
 /* add "#enc:encodning" to end of path */
 /* if path end width a previous #enc:, only encoding is changed no additional 
- * #enc: is appended 
+ * #enc: is appended
  * retun new string
  */
 static char *
@@ -1069,25 +1069,25 @@ add_encoding_to_path (const char *path, const char *encoding)
     char *semi;
     char *slash;
 
-    semi = g_strrstr (path, "#enc:");
+    semi = g_strrstr (path, VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX);
 
     if (semi != NULL)
     {
         slash = strchr (semi, PATH_SEP);
         if (slash != NULL)
         {
-            result = g_strconcat (path, "/#enc:", encoding, (char *) NULL);
+            result = g_strconcat (path, PATH_SEP_STR VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX, encoding, (char *) NULL);
         }
         else
         {
-            *semi = 0;
-            result = g_strconcat (path, "/#enc:", encoding, (char *) NULL);
+            *semi = '\0';
+            result = g_strconcat (path, PATH_SEP_STR VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX, encoding, (char *) NULL);
             *semi = '#';
         }
     }
     else
     {
-        result = g_strconcat (path, "/#enc:", encoding, (char *) NULL);
+        result = g_strconcat (path, PATH_SEP_STR VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX, encoding, (char *) NULL);
     }
 
     return result;
@@ -1107,7 +1107,7 @@ remove_encoding_from_path (const char *path)
 
     tmp_path = g_string_new (path);
 
-    while ((tmp = g_strrstr (tmp_path->str, "/#enc:")) != NULL)
+    while ((tmp = g_strrstr (tmp_path->str, PATH_SEP_STR VFS_ENCODING_PREFIX)) != NULL)
     {
         enc = vfs_get_encoding ((const char *) tmp);
         converter = enc ? str_crt_conv_to (enc) : str_cnv_to_term;
@@ -1115,7 +1115,7 @@ remove_encoding_from_path (const char *path)
             converter = str_cnv_to_term;
 
         tmp2 = tmp + 1;
-        while (*tmp2 && *tmp2 != '/')
+        while (*tmp2 && *tmp2 != PATH_SEP)
             tmp2++;
 
         if (*tmp2)