diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/anytrans.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/anytrans.cpp
index 6c5e94154ab..f28f87415c7 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/anytrans.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/anytrans.cpp
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ Transliterator* AnyTransliterator::getTransliterator(UScriptCode source) const {
     Transliterator* t = (Transliterator*) uhash_iget(cache, (int32_t) source);
     if (t == NULL) {
         UErrorCode ec = U_ZERO_ERROR;
-        UnicodeString sourceName(uscript_getName(source), "");
+        UnicodeString sourceName(uscript_getName(source), -1, US_INV);
         UnicodeString id(sourceName);
         id.append(TARGET_SEP).append(target);