diff --git a/src/core/network-openssl.c b/src/core/network-openssl.c
index 547f86c1..68fb8ea8 100644
--- a/src/core/network-openssl.c
+++ b/src/core/network-openssl.c
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ static GIOStatus irssi_ssl_cert_step(GIOSSLChannel *chan)
 	return G_IO_STATUS_ERROR;
 }
 
-static GIOStatus irssi_ssl_read(GIOChannel *handle, gchar *buf, guint len, guint *ret, GError **gerr)
+static GIOStatus irssi_ssl_read(GIOChannel *handle, gchar *buf, gsize len, gsize *ret, GError **gerr)
 {
 	GIOSSLChannel *chan = (GIOSSLChannel *)handle;
 	gint err;
diff --git a/src/fe-text/utf8.c b/src/fe-common/core/utf8.c
similarity index 96%
rename from src/fe-text/utf8.c
rename to src/fe-common/core/utf8.c
index 4049991d..ae235d34 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/utf8.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/utf8.c
@@ -76,22 +76,23 @@
       (Result) |= ((Chars)[(Count)] & 0x3f);				      \
     }
 
-unichar get_utf8_char(const unsigned char **ptr, int len)
+int get_utf8_char(const unsigned char **ptr, int len, unichar *chr_r)
 {
 	int i, result, mask, chrlen;
 
         mask = 0;
 	UTF8_COMPUTE(**ptr, mask, chrlen);
 	if (chrlen == -1)
-		return (unichar) -2;
+		return -2;
 
 	if (chrlen > len)
-                return (unichar) -1;
+                return -1;
 
 	UTF8_GET(result, *ptr, i, mask, chrlen);
 	if (result == -1)
-                return (unichar) -2;
-
+                return -2;
+	
+	*chr_r = (unichar) result;
 	*ptr += chrlen-1;
         return result;
 }
@@ -100,9 +101,10 @@ int strlen_utf8(const char *str)
 {
 	const unsigned char *p = (const unsigned char *) str;
         int len;
+	unichar chr_r;
 
 	len = 0;
-	while (*p != '\0' && get_utf8_char(&p, 6) > 0) {
+	while (*p != '\0' && get_utf8_char(&p, 6, &chr_r) > 0) {
 		len++;
                 p++;
 	}
diff --git a/src/fe-text/utf8.h b/src/fe-common/core/utf8.h
similarity index 93%
rename from src/fe-text/utf8.h
rename to src/fe-common/core/utf8.h
index 456c6bf8..996f51f3 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/utf8.h
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/utf8.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #define __UTF8_H
 
 /* Returns -2 = invalid, -1 = need more data, otherwise unichar. */
-unichar get_utf8_char(const unsigned char **ptr, int len);
+int get_utf8_char(const unsigned char **ptr, int len, unichar *chr_r);
 
 /* Returns length of UTF8 string */
 int strlen_utf8(const char *str);
diff --git a/src/fe-text/term-terminfo.c b/src/fe-text/term-terminfo.c
index 21591889..5552d9cb 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/term-terminfo.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/term-terminfo.c
@@ -556,13 +556,12 @@ static int input_utf8(const unsigned char *buffer, int size, unichar *result)
 {
         const unsigned char *end = buffer;
 
-        *result = get_utf8_char(&end, size);
-	switch (*result) {
-	case (unichar) -2:
+	switch (get_utf8_char(&end, size, result)) {
+	case -2:
 		/* not UTF8 - fallback to 8bit ascii */
 		*result = *buffer;
 		return 1;
-	case (unichar) -1:
+	case -1:
                 /* need more data */
 		return -1;
 	default:
diff --git a/src/fe-text/textbuffer-view.c b/src/fe-text/textbuffer-view.c
index b8c12c07..906e5668 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/textbuffer-view.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/textbuffer-view.c
@@ -212,8 +212,7 @@ view_update_line_cache(TEXT_BUFFER_VIEW_REC *view, LINE_REC *line)
 				char_len++;
 
 			next_ptr = ptr;
-			chr = get_utf8_char(&next_ptr, char_len);
-			if (chr < 0)
+			if (get_utf8_char(&next_ptr, char_len, &chr) < 0)
 				char_len = 1;
 			else
 				char_len = utf8_width(chr);
@@ -432,8 +431,11 @@ static int view_line_draw(TEXT_BUFFER_VIEW_REC *view, LINE_REC *line,
 
 		end = text;
 		if (view->utf8) {
-			unichar chr = get_utf8_char(&end, 6);
-			char_width = utf8_width(chr);
+			unichar chr;
+			if (get_utf8_char(&end, 6, &chr)<0)
+				char_width = 1;
+			else
+				char_width = utf8_width(chr);
 		} else {
 			if (term_type == TERM_TYPE_BIG5 &&
 			    is_big5(end[0], end[1]))