diff --git a/tools/android_asm_convert.py b/tools/android_asm_convert.py
index 9d87bf62..8436ad39 100644
--- a/tools/android_asm_convert.py
+++ b/tools/android_asm_convert.py
@@ -217,6 +217,12 @@ class Converter:
         if op == ".align":
             self.emit(f"\t.p2align {args}")
             return
+        if op in (".ascii", ".asciz", ".string"):
+            # string data, kept as it is: no symbol names in it (renamed, a
+            # "_" at the start of a word was dropped: a string with \" in it
+            # went wrong, Opus's tables among them)
+            self.emit(f"\t{op} {args}")
+            return
         if op.startswith("."):
             self.emit(f"\t{op} {self.operands(args)}" if args else f"\t{op}")
             return
diff --git a/tools/test_android_asm_convert.py b/tools/test_android_asm_convert.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c6e21a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test_android_asm_convert.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+"""Tests of tools/android_asm_convert.py, the Mach-O to ELF assembly
+conversion of the Android build's guest code."""
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent))
+
+from android_asm_convert import Converter  # noqa: E402
+
+
+def convert(*lines):
+    return Converter(list(lines)).run().split("\n")
+
+
+def test_symbols_lose_their_underscore():
+    out = convert("_main:", "\tbl\t_foo", "\t.long\t_bar")
+    assert out[:3] == ["main:", "\tbl foo", "\t.long bar"]
+
+
+def test_strings_are_kept():
+    # (a string starting with "_", or one with \" in it, lost a "_": Opus's
+    # pulse cache was one byte short, and its encoder crashed)
+    out = convert(
+        '\t.asciz\t"_lan_"',
+        '\t.ascii\t"\\"$&\'\\0063_\\206"',
+        '\t.string\t"l_.str _foo"',
+    )
+    assert out[:3] == [
+        '\t.asciz "_lan_"',
+        '\t.ascii "\\"$&\'\\0063_\\206"',
+        '\t.string "l_.str _foo"',
+    ]