diff --git a/builtin.cpp b/builtin.cpp
index 597f51c5b..44f4e84ea 100644
--- a/builtin.cpp
+++ b/builtin.cpp
@@ -1937,8 +1937,8 @@ static int builtin_echo(parser_t &parser, wchar_t **argv)
                         unsigned char narrow_val = 0;
                         if (builtin_echo_parse_numeric_sequence(str + j + 1, &consumed, &narrow_val))
                         {
-                            /* Here consumed must have been set to something */
-                            wc = narrow_val; //is this OK for conversion?
+                            /* Here consumed must have been set to something. The narrow_val is a literal byte that we want to output (#1894) */
+                            wc = ENCODE_DIRECT_BASE + narrow_val % 256;
                         }
                         else
                         {
diff --git a/builtin_printf.cpp b/builtin_printf.cpp
index f77a3a721..916166b0f 100644
--- a/builtin_printf.cpp
+++ b/builtin_printf.cpp
@@ -357,16 +357,17 @@ long builtin_printf_state_t::print_esc(const wchar_t *escstart, bool octal_0)
             esc_value = esc_value * 16 + hex_to_bin(*p);
         if (esc_length == 0)
             this->fatal_error(_(L"missing hexadecimal number in escape"));
-        this->append_output(esc_value);
+        this->append_output(ENCODE_DIRECT_BASE + esc_value % 256);
     }
     else if (is_octal_digit(*p))
     {
         /* Parse \0ooo (if octal_0 && *p == L'0') or \ooo (otherwise).
         Allow \ooo if octal_0 && *p != L'0'; this is an undocumented
         extension to POSIX that is compatible with Bash 2.05b.  */
+        /* Wrap mod 256, which matches historic behavior */
         for (esc_length = 0, p += octal_0 && *p == L'0'; esc_length < 3 && is_octal_digit(*p); ++esc_length, ++p)
             esc_value = esc_value * 8 + octal_to_bin(*p);
-        this->append_output(esc_value);
+        this->append_output(ENCODE_DIRECT_BASE + esc_value % 256);
     }
     else if (*p && wcschr(L"\"\\abcefnrtv", *p))
     {
diff --git a/tests/printf.in b/tests/printf.in
index 06b9cbb43..78c0d9771 100644
--- a/tests/printf.in
+++ b/tests/printf.in
@@ -30,4 +30,8 @@ echo
 # Bogus printf specifier, should produce no stdout
 printf "%5" 10 ^ /dev/null
 
+# Octal escapes produce literal bytes, not characters
+# \376 is 0xFE
+printf '\376' | xxd -p
+
 true
diff --git a/tests/printf.out b/tests/printf.out
index 04e0a94bb..f1c1960ba 100644
--- a/tests/printf.out
+++ b/tests/printf.out
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ foobarbaz
 I P Q R
 Test escapes
 a
+fe
diff --git a/tests/test1.in b/tests/test1.in
index 6f25e8ae6..1a7016956 100644
--- a/tests/test1.in
+++ b/tests/test1.in
@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ echo -e 'abc\cdef' # won't output a newline!
 echo ''
 echo -
 
+echo -ne '\376' | xxd -p
+
 echo -e Catch your breath
 
 echo -e 'abc\x21def'
diff --git a/tests/test1.out b/tests/test1.out
index 5f002f2a1..744348d50 100644
--- a/tests/test1.out
+++ b/tests/test1.out
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ abcQdef
 abcQ2def
 abc
 -
+fe
 Catch your breath
 abc!def
 abc!1def