diff --git a/cgo/cgo.go b/cgo/cgo.go
index 81c4a17d..cd0c29d8 100644
--- a/cgo/cgo.go
+++ b/cgo/cgo.go
@@ -165,10 +165,35 @@ typedef unsigned long long  _Cgo_ulonglong;
 
 // First part of the generated Go file. Written here as Go because that's much
 // easier than constructing the entire AST in memory.
+// The string/bytes functions below implement C.CString etc. To make sure the
+// runtime doesn't need to know the C int type, lengths are converted to uintptr
+// first.
+// These functions will be modified to get a "C." prefix, so the source below
+// doesn't reflect the final AST.
 const generatedGoFilePrefix = `
 import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
+
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func __GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func __GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
 `
 
 // Process extracts `import "C"` statements from the AST, parses the comment
@@ -219,6 +244,23 @@ func Process(files []*ast.File, dir string, fset *token.FileSet, cflags []string
 		// This is always a bug in the cgo package.
 		panic("unexpected error: " + err.Error())
 	}
+	// If the Comments field is not set to nil, the fmt package will get
+	// confused about where comments should go.
+	p.generated.Comments = nil
+	// Adjust some of the functions in there.
+	for _, decl := range p.generated.Decls {
+		switch decl := decl.(type) {
+		case *ast.FuncDecl:
+			switch decl.Name.Name {
+			case "CString", "GoString", "GoStringN", "__GoStringN", "GoBytes", "__GoBytes":
+				// Adjust the name to have a "C." prefix so it is correctly
+				// resolved.
+				decl.Name.Name = "C." + decl.Name.Name
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// Patch some types, for example *C.char in C.CString.
+	astutil.Apply(p.generated, p.walker, nil)
 
 	// Find all C.* symbols.
 	for _, f := range files {
diff --git a/cgo/testdata/basic.out.go b/cgo/testdata/basic.out.go
index 1fb2c4d1..125605de 100644
--- a/cgo/testdata/basic.out.go
+++ b/cgo/testdata/basic.out.go
@@ -4,6 +4,26 @@ import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
 
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func C.CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func C.GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func C.__GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func C.GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func C.__GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func C.GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
 type C.int16_t = int16
 type C.int32_t = int32
 type C.int64_t = int64
diff --git a/cgo/testdata/const.out.go b/cgo/testdata/const.out.go
index d213a672..e12cded4 100644
--- a/cgo/testdata/const.out.go
+++ b/cgo/testdata/const.out.go
@@ -4,6 +4,26 @@ import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
 
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func C.CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func C.GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func C.__GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func C.GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func C.__GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func C.GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
 const C.bar = C.foo
 const C.foo = 3
 
diff --git a/cgo/testdata/errors.out.go b/cgo/testdata/errors.out.go
index 212b37ed..8200a459 100644
--- a/cgo/testdata/errors.out.go
+++ b/cgo/testdata/errors.out.go
@@ -18,6 +18,26 @@ import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
 
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func C.CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func C.GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func C.__GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func C.GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func C.__GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func C.GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
 const C.SOME_CONST_3 = 1234
 
 type C.int16_t = int16
diff --git a/cgo/testdata/flags.out.go b/cgo/testdata/flags.out.go
index 4eb70112..92077865 100644
--- a/cgo/testdata/flags.out.go
+++ b/cgo/testdata/flags.out.go
@@ -9,6 +9,26 @@ import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
 
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func C.CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func C.GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func C.__GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func C.GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func C.__GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func C.GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
 const C.BAR = 3
 const C.FOO_H = 1
 
diff --git a/cgo/testdata/symbols.out.go b/cgo/testdata/symbols.out.go
index 97a9522b..53ec4f0b 100644
--- a/cgo/testdata/symbols.out.go
+++ b/cgo/testdata/symbols.out.go
@@ -4,6 +4,26 @@ import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
 
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func C.CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func C.GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func C.__GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func C.GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func C.__GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func C.GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
 //export foo
 func C.foo(a C.int, b C.int) C.int
 
diff --git a/cgo/testdata/types.out.go b/cgo/testdata/types.out.go
index 1864e33f..639d1f4f 100644
--- a/cgo/testdata/types.out.go
+++ b/cgo/testdata/types.out.go
@@ -4,6 +4,26 @@ import "unsafe"
 
 var _ unsafe.Pointer
 
+//go:linkname C.CString runtime.cgo_CString
+func C.CString(string) *C.char
+
+//go:linkname C.GoString runtime.cgo_GoString
+func C.GoString(*C.char) string
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoStringN runtime.cgo_GoStringN
+func C.__GoStringN(*C.char, uintptr) string
+
+func C.GoStringN(cstr *C.char, length C.int) string {
+	return C.__GoStringN(cstr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
+//go:linkname C.__GoBytes runtime.cgo_GoBytes
+func C.__GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer, uintptr) []byte
+
+func C.GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length C.int) []byte {
+	return C.__GoBytes(ptr, uintptr(length))
+}
+
 const C.option2A = 20
 const C.optionA = 0
 const C.optionB = 1
diff --git a/src/runtime/runtime.go b/src/runtime/runtime.go
index 5243d34e..d0617fde 100644
--- a/src/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/src/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ func memzero(ptr unsafe.Pointer, size uintptr)
 //export strlen
 func strlen(ptr unsafe.Pointer) uintptr
 
+//export malloc
+func malloc(size uintptr) unsafe.Pointer
+
 // Compare two same-size buffers for equality.
 func memequal(x, y unsafe.Pointer, n uintptr) bool {
 	for i := uintptr(0); i < n; i++ {
diff --git a/src/runtime/runtime_unix.go b/src/runtime/runtime_unix.go
index 23a41714..ae924026 100644
--- a/src/runtime/runtime_unix.go
+++ b/src/runtime/runtime_unix.go
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@ func libc_write(fd int32, buf unsafe.Pointer, count uint) int
 //export usleep
 func usleep(usec uint) int
 
-//export malloc
-func malloc(size uintptr) unsafe.Pointer
-
 // void *mmap(void *addr, size_t length, int prot, int flags, int fd, off_t offset);
 // Note: off_t is defined as int64 because:
 //   - musl (used on Linux) always defines it as int64
diff --git a/src/runtime/string.go b/src/runtime/string.go
index 72037d3d..a2b57fe1 100644
--- a/src/runtime/string.go
+++ b/src/runtime/string.go
@@ -233,3 +233,50 @@ func isContinuation(b byte) bool {
 	// Continuation bytes have their topmost bits set to 0b10.
 	return b&0xc0 == 0x80
 }
+
+// Functions used in CGo.
+
+// Convert a Go string to a C string.
+func cgo_CString(s _string) unsafe.Pointer {
+	buf := malloc(s.length + 1)
+	memcpy(buf, unsafe.Pointer(s.ptr), s.length)
+	*(*byte)(unsafe.Pointer(uintptr(buf) + s.length)) = 0 // trailing 0 byte
+	return buf
+}
+
+// Convert a C string to a Go string.
+func cgo_GoString(cstr unsafe.Pointer) _string {
+	if cstr == nil {
+		return _string{}
+	}
+	return makeGoString(cstr, strlen(cstr))
+}
+
+// Convert a C data buffer to a Go string (that possibly contains 0 bytes).
+func cgo_GoStringN(cstr unsafe.Pointer, length uintptr) _string {
+	return makeGoString(cstr, length)
+}
+
+// Make a Go string given a source buffer and a length.
+func makeGoString(cstr unsafe.Pointer, length uintptr) _string {
+	s := _string{
+		length: length,
+	}
+	if s.length != 0 {
+		buf := make([]byte, s.length)
+		s.ptr = &buf[0]
+		memcpy(unsafe.Pointer(s.ptr), cstr, s.length)
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+// Convert a C data buffer to a Go byte slice.
+func cgo_GoBytes(ptr unsafe.Pointer, length uintptr) []byte {
+	// Note: don't return nil if length is 0, to match the behavior of C.GoBytes
+	// of upstream Go.
+	buf := make([]byte, length)
+	if length != 0 {
+		memcpy(unsafe.Pointer(&buf[0]), ptr, uintptr(length))
+	}
+	return buf
+}
diff --git a/testdata/cgo/main.c b/testdata/cgo/main.c
index d4083324..31b60704 100644
--- a/testdata/cgo/main.c
+++ b/testdata/cgo/main.c
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ int cflagsConstant = SOME_CONSTANT;
 
 int smallEnumWidth = sizeof(option2_t);
 
+char globalChars[] = {2, 0, 4, 8};
+
 int fortytwo() {
 	return 42;
 }
diff --git a/testdata/cgo/main.go b/testdata/cgo/main.go
index cc25152e..e8438919 100644
--- a/testdata/cgo/main.go
+++ b/testdata/cgo/main.go
@@ -135,6 +135,21 @@ func main() {
 	//   void arraydecay(int *buf1, int *buf2[8], int *buf3[7][2]);
 	C.arraydecay((*C.int)(nil), (*[8]C.int)(nil), (*[7][2]C.int)(nil))
 
+	// Test CGo builtins like C.CString.
+	cstr := C.CString("string passed to C")
+	println("cstr length:", C.strlen(cstr))
+	gostr := C.GoString(cstr)
+	println("C.CString:", gostr)
+	charBuf := C.GoBytes(unsafe.Pointer(&C.globalChars[0]), 4)
+	println("C.charBuf:", charBuf[0], charBuf[1], charBuf[2], charBuf[3])
+	binaryString := C.GoStringN(&C.globalChars[0], 4)
+	println("C.CStringN:", len(binaryString), binaryString[0], binaryString[1], binaryString[2], binaryString[3])
+
+	// Test whether those builtins also work with zero length data.
+	println("C.GoString(nil):", C.GoString(nil))
+	println("len(C.GoStringN(nil, 0)):", len(C.GoStringN(nil, 0)))
+	println("len(C.GoBytes(nil, 0)):", len(C.GoBytes(nil, 0)))
+
 	// libc: test whether C functions work at all.
 	buf1 := []byte("foobar\x00")
 	buf2 := make([]byte, len(buf1))
diff --git a/testdata/cgo/main.h b/testdata/cgo/main.h
index 09e1b4f0..702dab0c 100644
--- a/testdata/cgo/main.h
+++ b/testdata/cgo/main.h
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ extern int smallEnumWidth;
 
 extern int cflagsConstant;
 
+extern char globalChars[4];
+
 // test duplicate definitions
 int add(int a, int b);
 extern int global;
diff --git a/testdata/cgo/out.txt b/testdata/cgo/out.txt
index ca77594f..375ad1f6 100644
--- a/testdata/cgo/out.txt
+++ b/testdata/cgo/out.txt
@@ -61,5 +61,12 @@ option 2A: 20
 option 3A: 21
 enum width matches: true
 CFLAGS value: 17
+cstr length: 18
+C.CString: string passed to C
+C.charBuf: 2 0 4 8
+C.CStringN: 4 2 0 4 8
+C.GoString(nil): 
+len(C.GoStringN(nil, 0)): 0
+len(C.GoBytes(nil, 0)): 0
 copied string: foobar
 line written using C puts