diff --git a/src/exp2cxx/write.cc b/src/exp2cxx/write.cc
--- a/src/exp2cxx/write.cc
+++ b/src/exp2cxx/write.cc
@@ -75,20 +75,25 @@ static uint32_t appendCompactNode(
     return index;
 }
 
-static void writeCompactString( ostream & output, const std::string & value ) {
-    output << '"';
+static void writeCompactBytes( ostream & output, const std::string & value ) {
+    output << "{\n        ";
+    size_t column = 8;
     for( size_t i = 0; i < value.size(); ++i ) {
         const unsigned char c = static_cast<unsigned char>( value[i] );
-        if( c == '\\' || c == '"' ) {
-            output << '\\' << static_cast<char>( c );
-        } else if( c >= 32 && c < 127 ) {
-            output << static_cast<char>( c );
-        } else {
-            output << '\\' << std::oct << std::setw( 3 ) << std::setfill( '0' )
-                   << static_cast<unsigned>( c ) << std::dec;
+        if( i ) {
+            if( column + 6 > 76 ) {
+                output << ",\n        ";
+                column = 8;
+            } else {
+                output << ", ";
+                column += 2;
+            }
         }
+        output << "0x" << std::hex << std::setw( 2 ) << std::setfill( '0' )
+               << static_cast<unsigned>( c ) << std::dec << std::setfill( ' ' );
+        column += 4;
     }
-    output << '"';
+    output << "\n    }";
 }
 
 static const char * compactNodeKind( JoinType kind ) {
@@ -128,7 +133,7 @@ static void writeCompactComplex( ostream & output, ComplexCollect & collect ) {
            << "];\n"
            << "    PackedComplexList lists[" << ( roots.empty() ? 1 : roots.size() )
            << "];\n"
-           << "    char strings[" << strings.size() + 1 << "];\n"
+           << "    uint8_t strings[" << strings.size() << "];\n"
            << "};\n\n"
            << "const GeneratedComplexImage generatedComplexImage = {\n"
            << "    { PackedComplexImageVersion_1, "
@@ -167,7 +172,7 @@ static void writeCompactComplex( ostream & output, ComplexCollect & collect ) {
         output << "        { " << roots[i] << " },\n";
     }
     output << "    },\n    ";
-    writeCompactString( output, strings );
+    writeCompactBytes( output, strings );
     output << "\n};\n}\n\nComplexCollect * gencomplex() {\n"
            << "    return InitializePackedComplexSupport(\n"
            << "        generatedComplexImage.header );\n"
diff --git a/src/exp2cxx/test/api_version.cmake b/src/exp2cxx/test/api_version.cmake
--- a/src/exp2cxx/test/api_version.cmake
+++ b/src/exp2cxx/test/api_version.cmake
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ if(NOT late_complex MATCHES "struct GeneratedComplexImage" OR
    late_complex MATCHES "ComplexNodeInitRecord")
   message(FATAL_ERROR "late-bound complex metadata is not packed")
 endif()
+if(NOT late_complex MATCHES "uint8_t strings\\[[0-9]+\\]" OR
+   NOT late_complex MATCHES "0x00")
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "late-bound complex string pool is not byte-initialized")
+endif()
 if(NOT late_all MATCHES "SchemaModuleImage_FullMetadata")
   message(FATAL_ERROR "late-bound output no longer defaults to full metadata")
 endif()