diff --git a/libs/pbd/uuid.cc b/libs/pbd/uuid.cc
index 8b55ab3381..c74de2536c 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/uuid.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/uuid.cc
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 */
 
+#include <boost/uuid/uuid_io.hpp>
 #include "pbd/uuid.h"
 
 PBD::UUID&
@@ -31,5 +32,5 @@ PBD::UUID::operator= (std::string const & str)
 std::string
 PBD::UUID::to_s () const
 {
-        return std::string ((const char*) data, size());
+        return boost::uuids::to_string (*this);
 }