diff --git a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/conversion/STRINGValueConverter.java b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/conversion/STRINGValueConverter.java
index 8176a2d..1960b87 100644
--- a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/conversion/STRINGValueConverter.java
+++ b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/conversion/STRINGValueConverter.java
@@ -8,15 +8,15 @@
  */
 package com.google.eclipse.protobuf.conversion;
 
-import static com.google.eclipse.protobuf.util.Strings.unquote;
+import static com.google.eclipse.protobuf.util.Strings.*;
 import static org.eclipse.xtext.util.Strings.convertToJavaString;
 
-import java.util.Scanner;
-
 import org.eclipse.xtext.conversion.ValueConverterException;
 import org.eclipse.xtext.conversion.impl.AbstractLexerBasedConverter;
 import org.eclipse.xtext.nodemodel.INode;
 
+import com.google.common.base.Function;
+
 /**
  * Converts multi-line strings to {@code String}s.
  *
@@ -50,16 +50,18 @@
   }
 
   private String toValue(String string) {
-    StringBuilder valueBuilder = new StringBuilder();
-    Scanner scanner = new Scanner(string);
-    while (scanner.hasNextLine()) {
-      String line = scanner.nextLine();
-      valueBuilder.append(convertToJavaString(unquote(line.trim()), true));
-    }
-    return valueBuilder.toString();
+    return removeLineBreaks(string, LineTransformation.INSTANCE);
   }
 
   private ValueConverterException parsingError(String string, INode node, Exception cause) {
     return new ValueConverterException("Couldn't convert '" + string + "' to String.", node, cause);
   }
+
+  private static class LineTransformation implements Function<String, String> {
+    private static final LineTransformation INSTANCE = new LineTransformation();
+
+    @Override public String apply(String input) {
+      return convertToJavaString(unquote(input), true);
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/util/Strings.java b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/util/Strings.java
index e29605e..ffbc9df 100644
--- a/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/util/Strings.java
+++ b/com.google.eclipse.protobuf/src/com/google/eclipse/protobuf/util/Strings.java
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 
 import java.util.Scanner;
 
+import com.google.common.base.Function;
+
 /**
  * Utility methods related to {@code String}.s
  *
@@ -58,16 +60,32 @@
    * is {@code null}.
    */
   public static String removeLineBreaksFrom(String s) {
+    return removeLineBreaks(s, null);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a {@code String} containing the given one without line breaks.
+   * @param s the given {@code String}, may be {@code null}.
+   * @param transformation any modifications to apply to each line in the given {@code String}, may be {@code null}.
+   * @return a {@code String} containing the given one without line breaks, or {@code null} if the given {@code String}
+   * is {@code null}.
+   */
+  public static String removeLineBreaks(String s, Function<String, String> transformation) {
     if (isEmpty(s)) {
       return s;
     }
     StringBuilder valueBuilder = new StringBuilder();
     Scanner scanner = new Scanner(s);
     while (scanner.hasNextLine()) {
-      String line = scanner.nextLine();
-      valueBuilder.append(line.trim());
+      String line = scanner.nextLine().trim();
+      if (transformation != null) {
+        line = transformation.apply(line);
+      }
+      valueBuilder.append(line);
     }
+    scanner.close();
     return valueBuilder.toString();
   }
+
   private Strings() {}
 }