diff --git a/runtime/rastrace/method_trace.c b/runtime/rastrace/method_trace.c
index bc489a837f4..eca88af2ea9 100644
--- a/runtime/rastrace/method_trace.c
+++ b/runtime/rastrace/method_trace.c
@@ -477,48 +477,29 @@ traceMethodArgObject(J9VMThread *thr, UDATA* arg0EA, char* cursor, UDATA length)
 	if (object == NULL) {
 		j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "null");
 	} else {
-		/* string arg */
-		J9Class *clazz = J9OBJECT_CLAZZ(thr, object);
+		J9Class* clazz = J9OBJECT_CLAZZ(thr, object);
+		J9ROMClass * romClass = clazz->romClass;
+		J9UTF8* className = J9ROMCLASS_CLASSNAME(romClass);
 		J9JavaVM *vm = thr->javaVM;
 
 		if (clazz == J9VMJAVALANGSTRING_OR_NULL(vm)) {
+			/* string arg */
+			char stringArgBuffer[DEFAULT_BUFFER_LENGTH];
 
-#define DEFAULT_STRING_LENGTH 32
+			J9InternalVMFunctions const * const vmFuncs = thr->javaVM->internalVMFunctions;
+			char *stringArgUTF8 = vmFuncs->copyStringToUTF8WithMemAlloc(thr, object, J9_STR_NULL_TERMINATE_RESULT, "  ", 2, stringArgBuffer, DEFAULT_BUFFER_LENGTH, NULL);
 
-			char utf8Buffer[128];
-			UDATA utf8Length = 0;
-            const unsigned int methodStrArgLength = ((RasGlobalStorage *)thr->javaVM->j9rasGlobalStorage)->methodStrArgLength;
-            unsigned int strArgLength = methodStrArgLength == 0 ? DEFAULT_STRING_LENGTH : methodStrArgLength;
-
-			char *utf8String = vm->internalVMFunctions->copyStringToUTF8WithMemAlloc(
-								thr,
-								object,
-								0,
-								"",
-								0,
-								utf8Buffer,
-								sizeof(utf8Buffer),
-								&utf8Length);
-
-			if (NULL == utf8String) {
-				j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "(String)<Memory allocation error>");
-			} else if (utf8Length > strArgLength) {
-				j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "(String)\"%.*s\"...", (U_32)strArgLength, utf8String);
+			if(DEFAULT_STRING_LENGTH < strlen(stringArgUTF8)) {
+				j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "(String)%.*s...", (U_32)DEFAULT_STRING_LENGTH, J9UTF8_DATA(stringArgUTF8));
 			} else {
-				j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "(String)\"%.*s\"", (U_32)utf8Length, utf8String);
+				j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "(String)%.*s", (U_32)J9UTF8_LENGTH(stringArgUTF8), J9UTF8_DATA(stringArgUTF8));
 			}
 
-			if (utf8Buffer != utf8String) {
-				j9mem_free_memory(utf8String);
+			if ((char*)stringArgBuffer != stringArgUTF8) {
+				j9mem_free_memory(stringArgUTF8);
 			}
-
-#undef DEFAULT_STRING_LENGTH
-
 		} else {
 			/* TODO: handle arrays */
-
-			J9ROMClass *romClass = clazz->romClass;
-			J9UTF8 *className = J9ROMCLASS_CLASSNAME(romClass);
 			j9str_printf(PORTLIB, cursor, length, "%.*s@%p", (U_32)J9UTF8_LENGTH(className), J9UTF8_DATA(className), object);
 		}
 	}