diff --git a/src/backend/curses/n.rs b/src/backend/curses/n.rs
index 5b6b90e..a22f821 100644
--- a/src/backend/curses/n.rs
+++ b/src/backend/curses/n.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ impl backend::Backend for Concrete {
 
         // Is it a UTF-8 starting point?
         if 32 <= ch && ch <= 255 && ch != 127 {
-            Event::Char(utf8::read_char(ch as u8, || ncurses::getch() as u8)
+            Event::Char(utf8::read_char(ch as u8, || Some(ncurses::getch() as u8))
                 .unwrap())
         } else {
             parse_ncurses_char(ch)
diff --git a/src/backend/curses/pan.rs b/src/backend/curses/pan.rs
index eb01eec..68c0c30 100644
--- a/src/backend/curses/pan.rs
+++ b/src/backend/curses/pan.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use event::{Event, Key};
 
 use self::super::find_closest;
 use theme::{Color, ColorStyle, Effect};
+use utf8;
 
 pub struct Concrete {
     window: pancurses::Window,
@@ -89,8 +90,22 @@ impl backend::Backend for Concrete {
                 // TODO: wait for a very short delay. If more keys are
                 // pipelined, it may be an escape sequence.
                 pancurses::Input::Character('\u{1b}') => Event::Key(Key::Esc),
-                pancurses::Input::Character('\u{7f}') => Event::Key(Key::Backspace),
-                pancurses::Input::Character(c) => Event::Char(c),
+                pancurses::Input::Character('\u{7f}') => {
+                    Event::Key(Key::Backspace)
+                }
+                pancurses::Input::Character(c) if 32 <= (c as u32) &&
+                                                  (c as u32) <= 255 => {
+                    Event::Char(utf8::read_char(c as u8, || {
+                            self.window.getch().and_then(|i| match i {
+                                pancurses::Input::Character(c) => {
+                                    Some(c as u8)
+                                }
+                                _ => None,
+                            })
+                        })
+                        .unwrap())
+                }
+                pancurses::Input::Character(c) => Event::Unknown(c as i32),
                 // TODO: Some key combos are not recognized by pancurses,
                 // but are sent as Unknown. We could still parse them here.
                 pancurses::Input::Unknown(i) => Event::Unknown(i),
diff --git a/src/utf8.rs b/src/utf8.rs
index 8141281..7bcfdca 100644
--- a/src/utf8.rs
+++ b/src/utf8.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use std::char::from_u32;
 ///
 /// Returns an error if the stream is invalid utf-8.
 pub fn read_char<F>(first: u8, next: F) -> Result<char, String>
-    where F: Fn() -> u8
+    where F: Fn() -> Option<u8>
 {
     if first < 0x80 {
         return Ok(first as char);
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub fn read_char<F>(first: u8, next: F) -> Result<char, String>
 
     // We already have one byte, now read the others.
     for _ in 1..n_bytes {
-        let byte = next();
+        let byte = try!(next().ok_or("Missing UTF-8 byte".to_string()));
         if byte & 0xC0 != 0x80 {
             return Err(format!("Found non-continuation byte after leading: \
                                 {}",
diff --git a/src/views/edit_view.rs b/src/views/edit_view.rs
index ed71bc9..4ac8cbd 100644
--- a/src/views/edit_view.rs
+++ b/src/views/edit_view.rs
@@ -352,11 +352,7 @@ impl View for EditView {
     fn on_event(&mut self, event: Event) -> EventResult {
 
         match event {
-            Event::Char(ch) => {
-                // Find the byte index of the char at self.cursor
-
-                self.insert(ch);
-            }
+            Event::Char(ch) => self.insert(ch),
             // TODO: handle ctrl-key?
             Event::Key(Key::Home) => self.cursor = 0,
             Event::Key(Key::End) => self.cursor = self.content.len(),