--- cpp/poppler-global.h
+++ cpp/poppler-global.h
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
 #    pragma warning(push)
 #    pragma warning(disable : 4251) /* class 'A' needs to have dll interface for to be used by clients of class 'B'. */
 #endif
-class POPPLER_CPP_EXPORT ustring : public std::basic_string<unsigned short>
+class POPPLER_CPP_EXPORT ustring : public std::u16string
 {
 public:
     ustring();