diff --git a/src/input_common.rs b/src/input_common.rs
index caa34c7c4..4686c635a 100644
--- a/src/input_common.rs
+++ b/src/input_common.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-use crate::common::{is_windows_subsystem_for_linux, read_blocked};
+use crate::common::{fish_reserved_codepoint, is_windows_subsystem_for_linux, read_blocked};
 use crate::env::{EnvStack, Environment};
 use crate::fd_readable_set::FdReadableSet;
 use crate::flog::FLOG;
 use crate::reader::reader_current_data;
 use crate::threads::{iothread_port, iothread_service_main};
 use crate::universal_notifier::default_notifier;
-use crate::wchar::prelude::*;
+use crate::wchar::{encode_byte_to_char, prelude::*};
 use crate::wutil::encoding::{mbrtowc, zero_mbstate};
 use crate::wutil::fish_wcstol;
 use std::collections::VecDeque;
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ pub trait InputEventQueuer {
     fn readch(&mut self) -> CharEvent {
         let mut res: char = '\0';
         let mut state = zero_mbstate();
+        let mut bytes = [0; 64 * 16];
+        let mut num_bytes = 0;
         loop {
             // Do we have something enqueued already?
             // Note this may be initially true, or it may become true through calls to
@@ -415,9 +417,10 @@ pub trait InputEventQueuer {
                         res = read_byte.into();
                         return CharEvent::from_char(res);
                     }
+                    let mut codepoint = u32::from(res);
                     let sz = unsafe {
                         mbrtowc(
-                            std::ptr::addr_of_mut!(res).cast(),
+                            std::ptr::addr_of_mut!(codepoint).cast(),
                             std::ptr::addr_of!(read_byte).cast(),
                             1,
                             &mut state,
@@ -430,16 +433,30 @@ pub trait InputEventQueuer {
                         }
                         -2 => {
                             // Sequence not yet complete.
+                            bytes[num_bytes] = read_byte;
+                            num_bytes += 1;
+                            continue;
                         }
                         0 => {
                             // Actual nul char.
                             return CharEvent::from_char('\0');
                         }
-                        _ => {
-                            // Sequence complete.
+                        _ => (),
+                    }
+                    if let Some(res) = char::from_u32(codepoint) {
+                        // Sequence complete.
+                        if !fish_reserved_codepoint(res) {
                             return CharEvent::from_char(res);
                         }
                     }
+                    bytes[num_bytes] = read_byte;
+                    num_bytes += 1;
+                    for &b in &bytes[1..num_bytes] {
+                        let c = CharEvent::from_char(encode_byte_to_char(b));
+                        self.push_back(c);
+                    }
+                    let res = CharEvent::from_char(encode_byte_to_char(bytes[0]));
+                    return res;
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/reader.rs b/src/reader.rs
index 2dc9d3f95..43f0f0b6c 100644
--- a/src/reader.rs
+++ b/src/reader.rs
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ use crate::ast::{self, Ast, Category, Traversal};
 use crate::builtins::shared::STATUS_CMD_OK;
 use crate::color::RgbColor;
 use crate::common::{
-    escape, escape_string, exit_without_destructors, fish_reserved_codepoint, get_ellipsis_char,
-    get_obfuscation_read_char, redirect_tty_output, scoped_push_replacer, scoped_push_replacer_ctx,
-    shell_modes, str2wcstring, wcs2string, write_loop, EscapeFlags, EscapeStringStyle, ScopeGuard,
-    PROGRAM_NAME, UTF8_BOM_WCHAR,
+    escape, escape_string, exit_without_destructors, get_ellipsis_char, get_obfuscation_read_char,
+    redirect_tty_output, scoped_push_replacer, scoped_push_replacer_ctx, shell_modes, str2wcstring,
+    wcs2string, write_loop, EscapeFlags, EscapeStringStyle, ScopeGuard, PROGRAM_NAME,
+    UTF8_BOM_WCHAR,
 };
 use crate::complete::{
     complete, complete_load, sort_and_prioritize, CompleteFlags, Completion, CompletionList,
@@ -1844,10 +1844,7 @@ impl ReaderData {
                     && zelf.active_edit_line().1.position() == 0
                 {
                     // This character is skipped.
-                } else if !fish_reserved_codepoint(c)
-                    && (c >= ' ' || c == '\n' || c == '\r')
-                    && c != '\x7F'
-                {
+                } else {
                     // Regular character.
                     let (elt, _el) = zelf.active_edit_line();
                     zelf.insert_char(elt, c);
@@ -1857,10 +1854,6 @@ impl ReaderData {
                         // We end history search. We could instead update the search string.
                         zelf.history_search.reset();
                     }
-                } else {
-                    // This can happen if the user presses a control char we don't recognize. No
-                    // reason to report this to the user unless they've enabled debugging output.
-                    FLOG!(reader, wgettext_fmt!("Unknown key binding 0x%X", c));
                 }
                 rls.last_cmd = None;
             }
@@ -1976,7 +1969,7 @@ impl ReaderData {
                 self.inputter
                     .read_char(allow_commands.then_some(&mut command_handler))
             };
-            if !event_is_normal_char(&evt) || !poll_fd_readable(self.conf.inputfd) {
+            if !evt.is_char() || !poll_fd_readable(self.conf.inputfd) {
                 event_needing_handling = Some(evt);
                 break;
             } else if evt.input_style == CharInputStyle::NotFirst
@@ -5334,12 +5327,3 @@ impl ReaderData {
         self.set_buffer_maintaining_pager(&new_command_line, cursor, false);
     }
 }
-
-/// \return true if an event is a normal character that should be inserted into the buffer.
-fn event_is_normal_char(evt: &CharEvent) -> bool {
-    if !evt.is_char() {
-        return false;
-    }
-    let c = evt.get_char();
-    !fish_reserved_codepoint(c) && c > char::from(31) && c != char::from(127)
-}
diff --git a/src/screen.rs b/src/screen.rs
index ac264b74b..4ed5b51f0 100644
--- a/src/screen.rs
+++ b/src/screen.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use std::sync::Mutex;
 use libc::{ONLCR, STDERR_FILENO, STDOUT_FILENO};
 
 use crate::common::{
-    get_ellipsis_char, get_omitted_newline_str, get_omitted_newline_width,
+    fish_reserved_codepoint, get_ellipsis_char, get_omitted_newline_str, get_omitted_newline_width,
     has_working_tty_timestamps, shell_modes, str2wcstring, wcs2string, write_loop, ScopeGuard,
     ScopeGuarding,
 };
@@ -1825,6 +1825,9 @@ fn compute_layout(
 // \n.
 // See https://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/control-pictures/
 fn rendered_character(c: char) -> char {
+    if fish_reserved_codepoint(c) {
+        return '�'; // replacement character
+    }
     if c <= '\x1F' {
         char::from_u32(u32::from(c) + 0x2400).unwrap()
     } else {