diff --git a/extmod/modlwip.c b/extmod/modlwip.c
index 5b03d7c294..5709413de8 100644
--- a/extmod/modlwip.c
+++ b/extmod/modlwip.c
@@ -1264,8 +1264,7 @@ STATIC void lwip_getaddrinfo_cb(const char *name, ip_addr_t *ipaddr, void *arg)
 
 // lwip.getaddrinfo
 STATIC mp_obj_t lwip_getaddrinfo(mp_obj_t host_in, mp_obj_t port_in) {
-    mp_uint_t hlen;
-    const char *host = mp_obj_str_get_data(host_in, &hlen);
+    const char *host = mp_obj_str_get_str(host_in);
     mp_int_t port = mp_obj_get_int(port_in);
 
     getaddrinfo_state_t state;