diff --git a/compiler.go b/compiler.go
index a01d8d41..6216770c 100644
--- a/compiler.go
+++ b/compiler.go
@@ -92,10 +92,6 @@ func NewCompiler(pkgName, triple string, dumpSSA bool) (*Compiler, error) {
 	c.uintptrType = c.targetData.IntPtrType()
 	c.i8ptrType = llvm.PointerType(llvm.Int8Type(), 0)
 
-	// Go string: tuple of (len, ptr)
-	t := c.ctx.StructCreateNamed("string")
-	t.StructSetBody([]llvm.Type{c.lenType, c.i8ptrType}, false)
-
 	allocType := llvm.FunctionType(c.i8ptrType, []llvm.Type{c.uintptrType}, false)
 	c.allocFunc = llvm.AddFunction(c.mod, "runtime.alloc", allocType)
 
@@ -458,7 +454,7 @@ func (c *Compiler) getLLVMType(goType types.Type) (llvm.Type, error) {
 		case types.Int64, types.Uint64:
 			return llvm.Int64Type(), nil
 		case types.String:
-			return c.mod.GetTypeByName("string"), nil
+			return c.mod.GetTypeByName("runtime._string"), nil
 		case types.Uintptr:
 			return c.uintptrType, nil
 		case types.UnsafePointer:
@@ -1889,7 +1885,7 @@ func (c *Compiler) parseBinOp(frame *Frame, binop *ssa.BinOp) (llvm.Value, error
 					return c.builder.CreateICmp(llvm.IntNE, x, y, ""), nil
 				}
 			} else if typ.Kind() == types.String {
-				result := c.builder.CreateCall(c.mod.NamedFunction("runtime.stringequal"), []llvm.Value{x, y}, "")
+				result := c.builder.CreateCall(c.mod.NamedFunction("runtime.stringEqual"), []llvm.Value{x, y}, "")
 				if binop.Op == token.NEQ {
 					result = c.builder.CreateNot(result, "")
 				}
@@ -1958,7 +1954,7 @@ func (c *Compiler) parseConst(expr *ssa.Const) (llvm.Value, error) {
 			global.SetGlobalConstant(true)
 			zero := llvm.ConstInt(llvm.Int32Type(), 0, false)
 			strPtr := c.builder.CreateInBoundsGEP(global, []llvm.Value{zero, zero}, "")
-			strObj := llvm.ConstNamedStruct(c.mod.GetTypeByName("string"), []llvm.Value{strLen, strPtr})
+			strObj := llvm.ConstNamedStruct(c.mod.GetTypeByName("runtime._string"), []llvm.Value{strLen, strPtr})
 			return strObj, nil
 		} else if typ.Kind() == types.UnsafePointer {
 			if !expr.IsNil() {
diff --git a/src/runtime/runtime.go b/src/runtime/runtime.go
index 96d1bb84..cc841b44 100644
--- a/src/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/src/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -21,18 +21,6 @@ func GOMAXPROCS(n int) int {
 	return 1
 }
 
-func stringequal(x, y string) bool {
-	if len(x) != len(y) {
-		return false
-	}
-	for i := 0; i < len(x); i++ {
-		if x[i] != y[i] {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-	return true
-}
-
 // Copy size bytes from src to dst. The memory areas must not overlap.
 func memcpy(dst, src unsafe.Pointer, size uintptr) {
 	for i := uintptr(0); i < size; i++ {
diff --git a/src/runtime/string.go b/src/runtime/string.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aa5d34ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/runtime/string.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package runtime
+
+// This file implements functions related to Go strings.
+
+type _string struct {
+	length lenType
+	ptr    *uint8
+}
+
+func stringEqual(x, y string) bool {
+	if len(x) != len(y) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < len(x); i++ {
+		if x[i] != y[i] {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}