diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp
index 682ede349a5..c46c94cca06 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/decimfmt.cpp
@@ -1939,7 +1939,7 @@ void DecimalFormat::expandAffix(const UnicodeString& pattern,
                 }
                 UnicodeString s;
                 if (currency[0] != 0) {
-                    s = intl ? currency
+                    s = intl ? UnicodeString(currency, "")
                         : UCurrency::getSymbol(currency, fSymbols->getLocale());
                 } else {
                     s = intl ? fSymbols->getSymbol(DecimalFormatSymbols::kIntlCurrencySymbol)