diff --git a/console.h b/console.h
index b2fc908549..3157330eb2 100644
--- a/console.h
+++ b/console.h
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ static inline void console_write_ch(console_ch_t *dest, uint32_t ch)
 {
     if (!(ch & 0xff))
         ch |= ' ';
-    cpu_to_le32wu((uint32_t *) dest, ch);
+    *dest = ch;
 }
 
 typedef void (*vga_hw_update_ptr)(void *);
diff --git a/hw/vga.c b/hw/vga.c
index c632fd77e1..e2151a2458 100644
--- a/hw/vga.c
+++ b/hw/vga.c
@@ -2073,14 +2073,14 @@ static void vga_update_text(void *opaque, console_ch_t *chardata)
 
         if (full_update) {
             for (i = 0; i < size; src ++, dst ++, i ++)
-                console_write_ch(dst, VMEM2CHTYPE(*src));
+                console_write_ch(dst, VMEM2CHTYPE(le32_to_cpu(*src)));
 
             dpy_update(s->ds, 0, 0, width, height);
         } else {
             c_max = 0;
 
             for (i = 0; i < size; src ++, dst ++, i ++) {
-                console_write_ch(&val, VMEM2CHTYPE(*src));
+                console_write_ch(&val, VMEM2CHTYPE(le32_to_cpu(*src)));
                 if (*dst != val) {
                     *dst = val;
                     c_max = i;
@@ -2089,7 +2089,7 @@ static void vga_update_text(void *opaque, console_ch_t *chardata)
             }
             c_min = i;
             for (; i < size; src ++, dst ++, i ++) {
-                console_write_ch(&val, VMEM2CHTYPE(*src));
+                console_write_ch(&val, VMEM2CHTYPE(le32_to_cpu(*src)));
                 if (*dst != val) {
                     *dst = val;
                     c_max = i;