diff --git a/tests/src/Emojis.cpp b/tests/src/Emojis.cpp
index 0f6cf6762..141a64afb 100644
--- a/tests/src/Emojis.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/Emojis.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "providers/emoji/Emojis.hpp"
 
 #include "common/Literals.hpp"
+#include "TestHelpers.hpp"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <QDebug>
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ TEST(Emojis, ShortcodeParsing)
         }
 
         EXPECT_EQ(output, test.expectedOutput)
-            << "Input " << test.input.toStdString() << " failed";
+            << "Input " << test.input << " failed";
     }
 }
 
@@ -165,8 +166,7 @@ TEST(Emojis, Parse)
         // can't use EXPECT_EQ because EmotePtr can't be printed
         if (output != test.expectedOutput)
         {
-            EXPECT_TRUE(false)
-                << "Input " << test.input.toStdString() << " failed";
+            EXPECT_TRUE(false) << "Input " << test.input << " failed";
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/src/LinkParser.cpp b/tests/src/LinkParser.cpp
index 0931ef859..cce5c8c6c 100644
--- a/tests/src/LinkParser.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/LinkParser.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include "common/LinkParser.hpp"
 
+#include "TestHelpers.hpp"
+
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <QString>
 #include <QStringList>
@@ -15,13 +17,13 @@ struct Case {
     {
         auto input = this->protocol + this->host + this->rest;
         LinkParser p(input);
-        ASSERT_TRUE(p.result().has_value()) << input.toStdString();
+        ASSERT_TRUE(p.result().has_value()) << input;
 
         const auto &r = *p.result();
         ASSERT_EQ(r.source, input);
-        ASSERT_EQ(r.protocol, this->protocol) << this->protocol.toStdString();
-        ASSERT_EQ(r.host, this->host) << this->host.toStdString();
-        ASSERT_EQ(r.rest, this->rest) << this->rest.toStdString();
+        ASSERT_EQ(r.protocol, this->protocol) << this->protocol;
+        ASSERT_EQ(r.host, this->host) << this->host;
+        ASSERT_EQ(r.rest, this->rest) << this->rest;
     }
 };
 
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ TEST(LinkParser, doesntParseInvalidIpv4Links)
     for (const auto &input : inputs)
     {
         LinkParser p(input);
-        ASSERT_FALSE(p.result().has_value()) << input.toStdString();
+        ASSERT_FALSE(p.result().has_value()) << input;
     }
 }
 
@@ -170,6 +172,6 @@ TEST(LinkParser, doesntParseInvalidLinks)
     for (const auto &input : inputs)
     {
         LinkParser p(input);
-        ASSERT_FALSE(p.result().has_value()) << input.toStdString();
+        ASSERT_FALSE(p.result().has_value()) << input;
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/src/TestHelpers.hpp b/tests/src/TestHelpers.hpp
index 05190e0da..30a2d0b1a 100644
--- a/tests/src/TestHelpers.hpp
+++ b/tests/src/TestHelpers.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include <QString>
+#include <QStringView>
+
 #include <mutex>
+#include <ostream>
 
 template <typename T>
 class ReceivedMessage
@@ -42,3 +46,21 @@ public:
         return &this->t;
     }
 };
+
+inline std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const QStringView &str)
+{
+    os << qUtf8Printable(str.toString());
+    return os;
+}
+
+inline std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const QByteArray &bytes)
+{
+    os << bytes.toStdString();
+    return os;
+}
+
+inline std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const QString &str)
+{
+    os << qUtf8Printable(str);
+    return os;
+}
diff --git a/tests/src/TwitchMessageBuilder.cpp b/tests/src/TwitchMessageBuilder.cpp
index 7b6b42c33..77ddcdf46 100644
--- a/tests/src/TwitchMessageBuilder.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/TwitchMessageBuilder.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "providers/seventv/SeventvBadges.hpp"
 #include "providers/twitch/TwitchBadge.hpp"
 #include "singletons/Emotes.hpp"
+#include "TestHelpers.hpp"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <IrcConnection>
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ TEST(TwitchMessageBuilder, CommaSeparatedListTagParsing)
         auto output = TwitchMessageBuilder::slashKeyValue(test.input);
 
         EXPECT_EQ(output, test.expectedOutput)
-            << "Input " << test.input.toStdString() << " failed";
+            << "Input " << test.input << " failed";
     }
 }
 
@@ -230,12 +231,12 @@ TEST(TwitchMessageBuilder, BadgeInfoParsing)
         auto outputBadgeInfo =
             TwitchMessageBuilder::parseBadgeInfoTag(privmsg->tags());
         EXPECT_EQ(outputBadgeInfo, test.expectedBadgeInfo)
-            << "Input for badgeInfo " << test.input.toStdString() << " failed";
+            << "Input for badgeInfo " << test.input << " failed";
 
         auto outputBadges =
             SharedMessageBuilder::parseBadgeTag(privmsg->tags());
         EXPECT_EQ(outputBadges, test.expectedBadges)
-            << "Input for badges " << test.input.toStdString() << " failed";
+            << "Input for badges " << test.input << " failed";
 
         delete privmsg;
     }
@@ -413,8 +414,7 @@ TEST_F(TestTwitchMessageBuilder, ParseTwitchEmotes)
             privmsg->tags(), originalMessage, 0);
 
         EXPECT_EQ(actualTwitchEmotes, test.expectedTwitchEmotes)
-            << "Input for twitch emotes " << test.input.toStdString()
-            << " failed";
+            << "Input for twitch emotes " << test.input << " failed";
 
         delete privmsg;
     }
@@ -617,11 +617,11 @@ TEST_F(TestTwitchMessageBuilder, IgnoresReplace)
                                                    emotes);
 
         EXPECT_EQ(message, test.expectedMessage)
-            << "Message not equal for input '" << test.input.toStdString()
-            << "' - expected: '" << test.expectedMessage.toStdString()
-            << "' got: '" << message.toStdString() << "'";
+            << "Message not equal for input '" << test.input
+            << "' - expected: '" << test.expectedMessage << "' got: '"
+            << message << "'";
         EXPECT_EQ(emotes, test.expectedTwitchEmotes)
-            << "Twitch emotes not equal for input '" << test.input.toStdString()
-            << "' and output '" << message.toStdString() << "'";
+            << "Twitch emotes not equal for input '" << test.input
+            << "' and output '" << message << "'";
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/src/XDGHelper.cpp b/tests/src/XDGHelper.cpp
index a8bcac801..3926d21d9 100644
--- a/tests/src/XDGHelper.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/XDGHelper.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include "util/XDGHelper.hpp"
 
+#include "TestHelpers.hpp"
+
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <QDebug>
 
@@ -57,9 +59,8 @@ TEST(XDGHelper, ParseDesktopExecProgram)
         auto output = parseDesktopExecProgram(test.input);
 
         EXPECT_EQ(output, test.expectedOutput)
-            << "Input '" << test.input.toStdString() << "' failed. Expected '"
-            << test.expectedOutput.toStdString() << "' but got '"
-            << output.toStdString() << "'";
+            << "Input '" << test.input << "' failed. Expected '"
+            << test.expectedOutput << "' but got '" << output << "'";
     }
 }