diff --git a/man/emp_client.6 b/man/emp_client.6
index 1dcc5cce..ed5519f8 100644
--- a/man/emp_client.6
+++ b/man/emp_client.6
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ empire \- Empire client
 .BI \-k
 ]
 [
+.BI \-u
+]
+[
 .BI \-2 " outfile"
 ]
 [
@@ -37,6 +40,12 @@ the password for your country in the game
 .BI \-k
 if someone else is connected to your country, kill their connection
 .TP
+.BI \-u
+use UTF-8 rather than ASCII character set
+.IP
+This requires server version 4.2.21 or later, and a terminal that
+understands UTF-8.
+.TP
 .BI \-2 " outfile"
 redirect output to 
 .I outfile
diff --git a/src/client/expect.c b/src/client/expect.c
index 6a82a8da..c65523d9 100644
--- a/src/client/expect.c
+++ b/src/client/expect.c
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 #endif
 
 int
-expect(int s, int match, char *buf)
+recvline(int s, char *buf)
 {
     int size;
     char *p;
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ expect(int s, int match, char *buf)
     ptr = buf;
     n = recv(s, ptr, size, MSG_PEEK);
     if (n <= 0) {
-	fprintf(stderr, "Expecting code %d\n", match);
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	errno = WSAGetLastError();
 #endif
@@ -91,7 +90,10 @@ expect(int s, int match, char *buf)
 	    }
 	    ptr += n;
 	    if ((n = recv(s, ptr, size, MSG_PEEK)) <= 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Expecting %d, got %s\n", match, buf);
+#ifdef _WIN32
+		errno = WSAGetLastError();
+#endif
+		perror("recv");
 		return 0;
 	    }
 	    size -= n;
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ expect(int s, int match, char *buf)
     (void)alarm(0);
 #endif
     if (!isxdigit(*buf)) {
-	fprintf(stderr, "Expecting %d, got %s\n", match, buf);
+	fprintf(stderr, "Malformed line %s\n", buf);
 	return 0;
     }
     if (isdigit(*buf))
@@ -133,9 +135,14 @@ expect(int s, int match, char *buf)
 	    *buf = tolower(*buf);
 	code = 10 + *buf - 'a';
     }
-    if (code == match)
-	return 1;
-    return 0;
+    return code;
+}
+
+int
+expect(int s, int match, char *buf)
+{
+    int code = recvline(s, buf);
+    return code == match;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/src/client/login.c b/src/client/login.c
index f888e06a..869eb1de 100644
--- a/src/client/login.c
+++ b/src/client/login.c
@@ -44,19 +44,31 @@
 #endif
 
 int
-login(int s, char *uname, char *cname, char *cpass, int kill_proc)
+login(int s, char *uname, char *cname, char *cpass, int kill_proc, int utf8)
 {
     char tmp[128];
     char buf[1024];
     char *ptr;
     char *p;
-    int len;
+    int len, code;
 
     if (!expect(s, C_INIT, buf))
 	return 0;
     (void)sendcmd(s, "user", uname);
     if (!expect(s, C_CMDOK, buf))
 	return 0;
+    if (utf8) {
+	sendcmd(s, "options", "utf-8");
+	for (;;) {
+	    code = recvline(s, buf);
+	    if (code == C_CMDOK)
+		break;
+	    if (code != C_DATA) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Server doesn't support UTF-8\n");
+		return 0;
+	    }
+	}
+    }
     if (cname == NULL) {
 	(void)printf("Country name? ");
 	cname = fgets(tmp, sizeof(tmp), stdin);
diff --git a/src/client/main.c b/src/client/main.c
index 7cd3317b..f56bd44f 100644
--- a/src/client/main.c
+++ b/src/client/main.c
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ HANDLE hStdIn;
 
 #define	RETRY	3
 
+int eight_bit_clean;
 int interrupt;
 int sock;
 
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ main(int ac, char **av)
     char *pname;
     char *uname;
     int send_kill = 0;
+    int utf8 = 0;
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
     err = WSAStartup(0x0101, &WsaData);
@@ -133,6 +135,9 @@ main(int ac, char **av)
 	} else if (strcmp(ptr, "-k") == 0) {
 	    send_kill = 1;
 	    continue;
+	} else if (strcmp(ptr, "-u") == 0) {
+	    utf8 = eight_bit_clean = 1;
+	    continue;
 	}
 	argv[j] = argv[i];
 	++j;
@@ -184,7 +189,7 @@ main(int ac, char **av)
 	    uname = "nobody";
 #endif
     }
-    if (!login(sock, uname, cname, pname, send_kill)) {
+    if (!login(sock, uname, cname, pname, send_kill, utf8)) {
 	close(sock);
 	exit(1);
     }
diff --git a/src/client/misc.h b/src/client/misc.h
index c908e559..be2faa03 100644
--- a/src/client/misc.h
+++ b/src/client/misc.h
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ struct ioqueue;
 
 extern char empirehost[];
 extern char empireport[];
+extern int eight_bit_clean;
 extern int interrupt;
 extern char num_teles[];
 extern int sock;
@@ -61,12 +62,13 @@ HANDLE hStdIn;
 #endif
 
 void getsose(void);
+int recvline(int s, char *buf);
 int expect(int s, int match, char *buf);
 int handleintr(int);
 int hostaddr(char *name, struct sockaddr_in *addr);
 int hostconnect(struct sockaddr_in *addr);
 int hostport(char *name, struct sockaddr_in *addr);
-int login(int s, char *uname, char *cname, char *cpass, int kill_proc);
+int login(int s, char *uname, char *cname, char *cpass, int kill_proc, int);
 void saveargv(int ac, char **src, char **dst);
 void sendcmd(int s, char *cmd, char *arg);
 int sendeof(int sock);
diff --git a/src/client/servcmd.c b/src/client/servcmd.c
index 073cf573..df37c787 100644
--- a/src/client/servcmd.c
+++ b/src/client/servcmd.c
@@ -344,11 +344,15 @@ screen(char *buf)
     char c;
 
     while ((c = *buf++)) {
-	if (c & 0x80) {
-	    for (sop = SO; putc(*sop, stdout); sop++) ;
-	    (void)putc(c & 0x7f, stdout);
-	    for (sop = SE; putc(*sop, stdout); sop++) ;
+	if (eight_bit_clean) {
+	    if (c == 14) fputs(SO, stdout);
+	    else if (c == 15) fputs(SE, stdout);
+	    else putchar(c);
+	} else if (c & 0x80) {
+	    fputs(SO, stdout);
+	    putchar(c & 0x7f);
+	    fputs(SE, stdout);
 	} else
-	    (void)putc(c, stdout);
+	    putchar(c);
     }
 }