diff --git a/src/frontends/ir/src/frontend.cpp b/src/frontends/ir/src/frontend.cpp
index 5f3cf4718d7cb2..1a34bede9e8675 100644
--- a/src/frontends/ir/src/frontend.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/ir/src/frontend.cpp
@@ -130,11 +130,7 @@ InputModel::Ptr FrontEnd::load_impl(const std::vector<ov::Any>& variants) const
         return exts;
     };
 
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-    auto create_input_model = [&](std::wstring& weights_path) -> std::shared_ptr<InputModel> {
-#else
     auto create_input_model = [&](std::string& weights_path) -> std::shared_ptr<InputModel> {
-#endif
         if (provided_model_stream) {
             return std::make_shared<InputModel>(*provided_model_stream, weights, create_extensions_map(), weights_path);
         } else if (local_model_stream.is_open()) {
@@ -241,7 +237,11 @@ InputModel::Ptr FrontEnd::load_impl(const std::vector<ov::Any>& variants) const
         }
     }
 
+#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
+    return create_input_model(ov::util::wstring_to_string(weights_path));
+#else
     return create_input_model(weights_path);
+#endif
 }
 
 std::shared_ptr<ov::Model> FrontEnd::convert(const InputModel::Ptr& model) const {
diff --git a/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.cpp b/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.cpp
index 23d58ab5a1ecd9..0bd614f3904055 100644
--- a/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.cpp
@@ -205,24 +205,16 @@ class InputModel::InputModelIRImpl {
     std::unordered_map<std::string, ov::OpSet> m_opsets;
     pugi::xml_node m_root;
     pugi::xml_document m_xml_doc;
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-    std::wstring m_weights_path;
-#else
     std::string m_weights_path;
-#endif
 
 public:
     InputModelIRImpl(std::istream& stream,
                      const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& weights,
                      const std::unordered_map<ov::DiscreteTypeInfo, ov::BaseOpExtension::Ptr>& extensions,
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-                     std::wstring& m_weights_path)
-#else
-                     std::string& m_weights_path)
-#endif
+                     std::string& weights_path)
         : m_weights(weights),
           m_extensions(extensions),
-          m_weights_path(m_weights_path) {
+          m_weights_path(weights_path) {
         pugi::xml_parse_result res = m_xml_doc.load(stream);
         if (res.status != pugi::status_ok) {
             OPENVINO_THROW(res.description(), " at offset ", res.offset);
@@ -239,11 +231,7 @@ class InputModel::InputModelIRImpl {
 InputModel::InputModel(std::istream& stream,
                        const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& weights,
                        const std::unordered_map<ov::DiscreteTypeInfo, ov::BaseOpExtension::Ptr>& extensions,
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-                       std::wstring weights_path) {
-#else
                        std::string weights_path) {
-#endif
     _impl = std::make_shared<InputModelIRImpl>(stream, weights, extensions, weights_path);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.hpp b/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.hpp
index 6ed8f31cd69933..7fb7f25b996dc5 100644
--- a/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.hpp
+++ b/src/frontends/ir/src/input_model.hpp
@@ -23,11 +23,7 @@ class InputModel : public ov::frontend::InputModel {
     InputModel(std::istream& stream,
                const std::shared_ptr<ov::AlignedBuffer>& weights,
                const std::unordered_map<ov::DiscreteTypeInfo, ov::BaseOpExtension::Ptr>& extensions,
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-               std::wstring weights_path = L"");
-#else
                std::string weights_path = "");
-#endif
 
     std::shared_ptr<Model> convert();
 };
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/plugin/compiled_model.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/plugin/compiled_model.hpp
index d9db5aae7586aa..f6b7f2ce869965 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/plugin/compiled_model.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/plugin/compiled_model.hpp
@@ -70,11 +70,7 @@ class CompiledModel : public ov::ICompiledModel {
     std::vector<ov::Output<const ov::Node>> m_outputs;
     std::vector<std::shared_ptr<Graph>> m_graphs;
     bool m_loaded_from_cache;
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-    std::wstring m_weights_path;
-#else
     std::string m_weights_path;
-#endif
 };
 
 }  // namespace intel_gpu
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/primitives/data.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/primitives/data.hpp
index b94e1b6fb64137..0c659db21528a3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/primitives/data.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/primitives/data.hpp
@@ -35,11 +35,7 @@ struct data : public primitive_base<data> {
 
     size_t original_size = SIZE_MAX;
     size_t bin_offset = SIZE_MAX;
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-    std::wstring weights_path = L"";
-#else
     std::string weights_path = "";
-#endif
 
     size_t hash() const override {
         size_t seed = primitive::hash();
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/runtime/internal_properties.hpp b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/runtime/internal_properties.hpp
index e1fd081feb62da..50de64ec56c880 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/runtime/internal_properties.hpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/include/intel_gpu/runtime/internal_properties.hpp
@@ -56,11 +56,7 @@ static constexpr Property<size_t, PropertyMutability::RW> max_dynamic_batch{"DYN
 static constexpr Property<bool, PropertyMutability::RW> nv12_two_inputs{"GPU_NV12_TWO_INPUTS"};
 static constexpr Property<float, PropertyMutability::RW> buffers_preallocation_ratio{"GPU_BUFFERS_PREALLOCATION_RATIO"};
 static constexpr Property<size_t, PropertyMutability::RW> max_kernels_per_batch{"GPU_MAX_KERNELS_PER_BATCH"};
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-static constexpr Property<std::wstring, PropertyMutability::RW> weights_path{"GPU_WEIGHTS_PATH"};
-#else
 static constexpr Property<std::string, PropertyMutability::RW> weights_path{"GPU_WEIGHTS_PATH"};
-#endif
 
 }  // namespace intel_gpu
 }  // namespace ov
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/graph/program.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/graph/program.cpp
index 8d9e14cc4c682f..3dba9017954f9e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/graph/program.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/graph/program.cpp
@@ -1723,11 +1723,7 @@ void program::cancel_compilation_context() {
 }
 
 void program::save(cldnn::BinaryOutputBuffer& ob) const {
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-    std::wstring weights_path;
-#else
     std::string weights_path;
-#endif
     weights_path = _config.get_property(ov::intel_gpu::weights_path);
     ob << weights_path;
 
@@ -1846,11 +1842,7 @@ void program::save(cldnn::BinaryOutputBuffer& ob) const {
 void program::load(cldnn::BinaryInputBuffer& ib) {
     init_program();
 
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-    std::wstring weights_path;
-#else
     std::string weights_path;
-#endif
     ib >> weights_path;
     ov::AnyMap weights_path_property{{"GPU_WEIGHTS_PATH", weights_path}};
     _config.set_property(weights_path_property);
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/plugin/compiled_model.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/plugin/compiled_model.cpp
index 298239f34a66e6..0823272e7e82d9 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/plugin/compiled_model.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/plugin/compiled_model.cpp
@@ -50,14 +50,12 @@ CompiledModel::CompiledModel(std::shared_ptr<ov::Model> model,
       m_model_name(model->get_friendly_name()),
       m_inputs(ov::ICompiledModel::inputs()),
       m_outputs(ov::ICompiledModel::outputs()),
-      m_loaded_from_cache(false)
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-      ,
-      m_weights_path(model->get_rt_info()["weights_path"].as<std::wstring>()) {
-#else
-      ,
-      m_weights_path(model->get_rt_info()["weights_path"].as<std::string>()) {
-#endif
+      m_loaded_from_cache(false) {
+    auto model_rt_info = model->get_rt_info();
+    auto weights_path = model_rt_info.find("weights_path");
+    if (weights_path != model_rt_info.end()) {
+        m_weights_path = weights_path->second.as<std::string>();
+    }
     auto graph_base = std::make_shared<Graph>(model, m_context, m_config, 0);
     for (uint16_t n = 0; n < m_config.get_property(ov::num_streams); n++) {
         auto graph = n == 0 ? graph_base : std::make_shared<Graph>(graph_base, n);
diff --git a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/runtime/execution_config.cpp b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/runtime/execution_config.cpp
index c58f9c9fe5b1ff..3596a600e91fb1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/runtime/execution_config.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/intel_gpu/src/runtime/execution_config.cpp
@@ -80,11 +80,7 @@ void ExecutionConfig::set_default() {
         std::make_tuple(ov::intel_gpu::use_only_static_kernels_for_dynamic_shape, false),
         std::make_tuple(ov::intel_gpu::buffers_preallocation_ratio, 1.1f),
         std::make_tuple(ov::intel_gpu::max_kernels_per_batch, 8),
-#if defined(OPENVINO_ENABLE_UNICODE_PATH_SUPPORT) && defined(_WIN32)
-        std::make_tuple(ov::intel_gpu::weights_path, L""));
-#else
         std::make_tuple(ov::intel_gpu::weights_path, ""));
-#endif
 }
 
 void ExecutionConfig::register_property_impl(const std::pair<std::string, ov::Any>& property, PropertyVisibility visibility, BaseValidator::Ptr validator) {