diff --git a/include/libtorrent/escape_string.hpp b/include/libtorrent/escape_string.hpp
index b663d094d..660dd4d08 100755
--- a/include/libtorrent/escape_string.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/escape_string.hpp
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 	TORRENT_EXPORT boost::optional<std::string> url_has_argument(
 		std::string const& url, std::string argument);
+
+	TORRENT_EXPORT std::string to_hex(std::string const& s);
 }
 
 #endif // TORRENT_ESCAPE_STRING_HPP_INCLUDED
diff --git a/src/entry.cpp b/src/entry.cpp
index 0dd9a43fc..59e5b061d 100755
--- a/src/entry.cpp
+++ b/src/entry.cpp
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <iomanip>
+#include <boost/bind.hpp>
 #include "libtorrent/entry.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/config.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/escape_string.hpp"
 
 #if defined(_MSC_VER)
 namespace std
@@ -371,21 +373,8 @@ namespace libtorrent
 						break;
 					}
 				}
-				if (binary_string)
-				{
-					os.unsetf(std::ios_base::dec);
-					os.setf(std::ios_base::hex);
-					for (std::string::const_iterator i = string().begin(); i != string().end(); ++i)
-						os << std::setfill('0') << std::setw(2)
-							<< static_cast<unsigned int>((unsigned char)*i);
-					os.unsetf(std::ios_base::hex);
-					os.setf(std::ios_base::dec);
-					os << "\n";
-				}
-				else
-				{
-					os << string() << "\n";
-				}
+				if (binary_string) os << to_hex(string()) << "\n";
+				else os << string() << "\n";
 			} break;
 		case list_t:
 			{
@@ -400,8 +389,21 @@ namespace libtorrent
 				os << "dictionary\n";
 				for (dictionary_type::const_iterator i = dict().begin(); i != dict().end(); ++i)
 				{
+					bool binary_string = false;
+					for (std::string::const_iterator k = i->first.begin(); k != i->first.end(); ++k)
+					{
+						if (!std::isprint(static_cast<unsigned char>(*k)))
+						{
+							binary_string = true;
+							break;
+						}
+					}
 					for (int j = 0; j < indent+1; ++j) os << " ";
-					os << "[" << i->first << "]";
+					os << "[";
+					if (binary_string) os << to_hex(i->first);
+					else os << i->first;
+					os << "]";
+
 					if (i->second.type() != entry::string_t
 						&& i->second.type() != entry::int_t)
 						os << "\n";
diff --git a/src/escape_string.cpp b/src/escape_string.cpp
index 186b34f88..616570014 100755
--- a/src/escape_string.cpp
+++ b/src/escape_string.cpp
@@ -352,5 +352,17 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		return url.substr(pos, url.find('&', pos) - pos);
 	}
 
+	TORRENT_EXPORT std::string to_hex(std::string const& s)
+	{
+		std::string ret;
+		char* digits = "0123456789abcdef";
+		for (std::string::const_iterator i = s.begin(); i != s.end(); ++i)
+		{
+			ret += digits[((unsigned char)*i) >> 4];
+			ret += digits[((unsigned char)*i) & 0xf];
+		}
+		return ret;
+	}
+
 }
 
diff --git a/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp b/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp
index bd0cfde86..461ea9da6 100644
--- a/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp
+++ b/src/kademlia/dht_tracker.cpp
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include "libtorrent/bencode.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/io.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/version.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/escape_string.hpp"
 
 using boost::ref;
 using boost::lexical_cast;
@@ -137,19 +138,6 @@ namespace libtorrent { namespace dht
 
 #ifdef TORRENT_DHT_VERBOSE_LOGGING
 	TORRENT_DEFINE_LOG(dht_tracker)
-
-	std::string to_hex(std::string const& s)
-	{
-		std::string ret;
-		char* digits = "0123456789abcdef";
-		for (std::string::const_iterator i = s.begin(); i != s.end(); ++i)
-		{
-			ret += digits[((unsigned char)*i) >> 4];
-			ret += digits[((unsigned char)*i) & 0xf];
-		}
-		return ret;
-	}
-
 #endif
 
 	// class that puts the networking and the kademlia node in a single