diff --git a/builtin.cpp b/builtin.cpp
index 741dbd4ad..fadd5a4a1 100644
--- a/builtin.cpp
+++ b/builtin.cpp
@@ -2002,6 +2002,7 @@ int define_function(parser_t &parser, const wcstring_list_t &c_args, const wcstr
         else if (! wcslen(argv[woptind]))
         {
             append_format(*out_err, _(L"%ls: No function name given\n"), argv[0]);
+            res=1;
         }
         else
         {
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b6b7626b0..fefb2c460 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -213,6 +213,16 @@ if test `uname` != "Darwin"; then
    LDFLAGS_FISH="$LDFLAGS_FISH -rdynamic"
 fi
 
+#
+# On Cygwin, we need to add some flags for ncurses.
+#
+case `uname` in
+    CYGWIN*)
+        echo "adding flags for ncurses on Cygwin"
+        CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -I/usr/include -I/usr/include/ncursesw"
+        LDFLAGS_FISH="$LDFLAGS_FISH -L/usr/lib/ncursesw"
+    ;;
+esac
 
 #
 # If we are compiling against glibc, set some flags to work around
diff --git a/fish_tests.cpp b/fish_tests.cpp
index aa9db1173..b1061bbb9 100644
--- a/fish_tests.cpp
+++ b/fish_tests.cpp
@@ -688,6 +688,9 @@ static void test_parser()
     parser_t::principal_parser().eval(L"function recursive1 ; recursive2 ; end ; function recursive2 ; recursive1 ; end ; recursive1; ", io_chain_t(), TOP);
 #endif
 
+    say(L"Testing empty function name");
+    parser_t::principal_parser().eval(L"function '' ; echo fail; exit 42 ; end ; ''", io_chain_t(), TOP);
+
     say(L"Testing eval_args");
     completion_list_t comps;
     parser_t::principal_parser().expand_argument_list(L"alpha 'beta gamma' delta", comps);
@@ -1022,28 +1025,23 @@ static void test_wchar2utf8(const wchar_t *src, size_t slen, const char *dst, si
         }
     }
 
-    do
+    size = wchar_to_utf8(src, slen, mem, dlen, flags);
+    if (res != size)
     {
-        size = wchar_to_utf8(src, slen, mem, dlen, flags);
-        if (res != size)
-        {
-            err(L"w2u: %s: FAILED (rv: %lu, must be %lu)", descr, size, res);
-            break;
-        }
-
-        if (mem == NULL)
-            break;		/* OK */
-
-        if (memcmp(mem, dst, size) != 0)
-        {
-            err(L"w2u: %s: BROKEN", descr);
-            break;
-        }
-
+        err(L"w2u: %s: FAILED (rv: %lu, must be %lu)", descr, size, res);
+        goto finish;
     }
-    while (0);
 
-    if (mem != NULL);
+    if (mem == NULL)
+        goto finish;		/* OK */
+
+    if (memcmp(mem, dst, size) != 0)
+    {
+        err(L"w2u: %s: BROKEN", descr);
+        goto finish;
+    }
+
+    finish:
     free(mem);
 }
 
diff --git a/output.cpp b/output.cpp
index 7f90df4bd..149d9d99a 100644
--- a/output.cpp
+++ b/output.cpp
@@ -418,13 +418,6 @@ int writeb(tputs_arg_t b)
     return 0;
 }
 
-int writembs_internal(char *str)
-{
-    CHECK(str, 1);
-
-    return tputs(str,1,&writeb)==ERR?1:0;
-}
-
 int writech(wint_t ch)
 {
     mbstate_t state;
@@ -725,3 +718,20 @@ const wchar_t *output_get_term()
 {
     return current_term.empty() ? L"<unknown>" : current_term.c_str();
 }
+
+void writembs_check(char *mbs, const char *mbs_name, const char *file, long line)
+{
+    if (mbs != NULL)
+    {
+        tputs(mbs, 1, &writeb);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        debug( 0, _(L"Tried to use terminfo string %s on line %ld of %s, which is undefined in terminal of type \"%ls\". Please report this error to %s"),
+              mbs_name,
+              line,
+              file,
+              output_get_term(),
+              PACKAGE_BUGREPORT);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/output.h b/output.h
index 2d05c3d05..400129421 100644
--- a/output.h
+++ b/output.h
@@ -78,33 +78,8 @@ void set_color(rgb_color_t c, rgb_color_t c2);
 /**
    Write specified multibyte string
  */
-#define writembs( mbs )                         \
-        {                                       \
-                char *tmp = mbs;                \
-                if( tmp )        \
-                {          \
-                        writembs_internal( tmp );      \
-                }              \
-                else              \
-                {              \
-                        debug( 0,          \
-             _(L"Tried to use terminfo string %s on line %d of %s, which is undefined in terminal of type \"%ls\". Please report this error to %s"), \
-             #mbs,          \
-             __LINE__,        \
-             __FILE__,        \
-             output_get_term(),      \
-             PACKAGE_BUGREPORT);      \
-    }                                                       \
-  }
-
-
-/**
-   Write a char * narrow string to FD 1, needed for the terminfo
-   strings. This is usually just a wrapper aound tputs, using writeb
-   as the sending function. But a weird bug on PPC Linux means that on
-   this platform, write is instead used directly.
-*/
-int writembs_internal(char *str);
+void writembs_check(char *mbs, const char *mbs_name, const char *file, long line);
+#define writembs(mbs) writembs_check((mbs), #mbs, __FILE__, __LINE__)
 
 /**
    Write a wide character using the output method specified using output_set_writer().
diff --git a/screen.cpp b/screen.cpp
index 2fd7cc96d..96fe0f2a5 100644
--- a/screen.cpp
+++ b/screen.cpp
@@ -638,18 +638,32 @@ static void s_move(screen_t *s, data_buffer_t *b, int new_x, int new_y)
         x_steps = 0;
     }
 
+    char *multi_str = NULL;
     if (x_steps < 0)
     {
         str = cursor_left;
+        multi_str = parm_left_cursor;
     }
     else
     {
         str = cursor_right;
+        multi_str = parm_right_cursor;
     }
-
-    for (i=0; i<abs(x_steps); i++)
+    
+    // Use the bulk ('multi') output for cursor movement if it is supported and it would be shorter
+    // Note that this is required to avoid some visual glitches in iTerm (#1448)
+    bool use_multi = (multi_str != NULL && multi_str[0] != '\0' && abs(x_steps) * strlen(str) > strlen(multi_str));
+    if (use_multi)
     {
-        writembs(str);
+        char *multi_param = tparm(multi_str, abs(x_steps));
+        writembs(multi_param);
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        for (i=0; i<abs(x_steps); i++)
+        {
+            writembs(str);
+        }
     }