diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Util.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Util.js
index 099ba4bc9c..8961dd5c65 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Util.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Util.js
@@ -1685,7 +1685,7 @@ OpenLayers.Util.getFormattedLonLat = function(coordinate, axis, dmsOption) {
     if( coordinatedegrees < 10 ) {
         coordinatedegrees = "0" + coordinatedegrees;
     }
-    var str = coordinatedegrees + " ";  //get degree symbol here somehow for SVG/VML labelling
+    var str = coordinatedegrees + "\u00B0";
 
     if (dmsOption.indexOf('dm') >= 0) {
         if( coordinateminutes < 10 ) {