diff --git a/src/ansi.c b/src/ansi.c
index d15867b..83bf608 100644
--- a/src/ansi.c
+++ b/src/ansi.c
@@ -1573,7 +1573,21 @@ StringEnd()
 	  curr->w_hstatus = 0;
 	}
       if (curr->w_string != curr->w_stringp)
-	curr->w_hstatus = SaveStr(curr->w_string);
+	{
+#ifdef UTF8
+	  if (curr->w_encoding == UTF8)
+	    {
+	      int len = RecodeBuf(curr->w_string, curr->w_stringp - curr->w_string,
+		  0, curr->w_encoding, 0);
+	      curr->w_hstatus = malloc(len + 1);
+	      RecodeBuf(curr->w_string, curr->w_stringp - curr->w_string, 0, curr->w_encoding,
+		  curr->w_hstatus);
+	      curr->w_hstatus[len] = 0;
+	    }
+	  else
+#endif
+	  curr->w_hstatus = SaveStr(curr->w_string);
+	}
       WindowChanged(curr, 'h');
       break;
     case PM: