diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/formats.c b/src/fe-common/core/formats.c
index ccfad968..9a5569ff 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/formats.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/formats.c
@@ -366,6 +366,7 @@ int format_real_length(const char *str, int len)
 	GString *tmp;
 	const char *start;
 #ifdef HAVE_GLIB2
+	const char *oldstr;
 	gboolean utf8;
 #endif
 	g_return_val_if_fail(str != NULL, 0);
@@ -394,7 +395,10 @@ int format_real_length(const char *str, int len)
 		}
 
 #ifdef HAVE_GLIB2
+		oldstr = str;
 		len -= advance(&str, utf8);
+		if (len < 0)
+			str = oldstr;
 #else
 	  len--;
 		str++;
diff --git a/src/fe-text/statusbar.c b/src/fe-text/statusbar.c
index 5eba9557..9f1b09b0 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/statusbar.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/statusbar.c
@@ -732,7 +732,7 @@ void statusbar_item_default_handler(SBAR_ITEM_REC *item, int get_size_only,
                         /* they're forcing us smaller than minimum size.. */
 			len = format_real_length(tmpstr, item->size);
                         tmpstr[len] = '\0';
-		} else {
+		}
 			/* make sure the str is big enough to fill the
 			   requested size, so it won't corrupt screen */
 			len = format_get_length(tmpstr);
@@ -748,7 +748,6 @@ void statusbar_item_default_handler(SBAR_ITEM_REC *item, int get_size_only,
 				g_free(tmpstr);
 				tmpstr = tmpstr2;
 			}
-		}
 
 		tmpstr2 = update_statusbar_bg(tmpstr, item->bar->color);
 		gui_printtext(item->xpos, item->bar->real_ypos, tmpstr2);