diff --git a/tools/icu/icu-generic.gyp b/tools/icu/icu-generic.gyp
index 8f29369255dfd7..a50f12d7940bf7 100644
--- a/tools/icu/icu-generic.gyp
+++ b/tools/icu/icu-generic.gyp
@@ -35,9 +35,7 @@
           'UCONFIG_NO_REGULAR_EXPRESSIONS=1',
           'U_ENABLE_DYLOAD=0',
           'U_STATIC_IMPLEMENTATION=1',
-          # Don't need std::string in API.
-          # Also, problematic: <http://bugs.icu-project.org/trac/ticket/11333>
-          'U_HAVE_STD_STRING=0',
+          'U_HAVE_STD_STRING=1',
           # TODO(srl295): reenable following pending
           # https://code.google.com/p/v8/issues/detail?id=3345
           # (saves some space)