diff -ur original_src/api.c src/api.c
--- original_src/api.c	2008-12-27 15:18:21.000000000 -0800
+++ src/api.c	2009-08-18 18:18:41.000000000 -0700
@@ -611,51 +611,6 @@
 }
 
 /*
- * Check if a string is a valid UTF-8 sequence.
- *
- * Check 'reader.c' for more details on UTF-8 encoding.
- */
-
-static int
-yaml_check_utf8(yaml_char_t *start, size_t length)
-{
-    yaml_char_t *end = start+length;
-    yaml_char_t *pointer = start;
-
-    while (pointer < end) {
-        unsigned char octet;
-        unsigned int width;
-        unsigned int value;
-        size_t k;
-
-        octet = pointer[0];
-        width = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? 1 :
-                (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? 2 :
-                (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? 3 :
-                (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? 4 : 0;
-        value = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? octet & 0x7F :
-                (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? octet & 0x1F :
-                (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? octet & 0x0F :
-                (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? octet & 0x07 : 0;
-        if (!width) return 0;
-        if (pointer+width > end) return 0;
-        for (k = 1; k < width; k ++) {
-            octet = pointer[k];
-            if ((octet & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
-            value = (value << 6) + (octet & 0x3F);
-        }
-        if (!((width == 1) ||
-            (width == 2 && value >= 0x80) ||
-            (width == 3 && value >= 0x800) ||
-            (width == 4 && value >= 0x10000))) return 0;
-
-        pointer += width;
-    }
-
-    return 1;
-}
-
-/*
  * Create STREAM-START.
  */
 
@@ -731,12 +686,6 @@
                 tag_directive != tag_directives_end; tag_directive ++) {
             assert(tag_directive->handle);
             assert(tag_directive->prefix);
-            if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag_directive->handle,
-                        strlen((char *)tag_directive->handle)))
-                goto error;
-            if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag_directive->prefix,
-                        strlen((char *)tag_directive->prefix)))
-                goto error;
             value.handle = yaml_strdup(tag_directive->handle);
             value.prefix = yaml_strdup(tag_directive->prefix);
             if (!value.handle || !value.prefix) goto error;
@@ -796,8 +745,6 @@
     assert(event);      /* Non-NULL event object is expected. */
     assert(anchor);     /* Non-NULL anchor is expected. */
 
-    if (!yaml_check_utf8(anchor, strlen((char *)anchor))) return 0;
-
     anchor_copy = yaml_strdup(anchor);
     if (!anchor_copy)
         return 0;
@@ -827,13 +774,11 @@
     assert(value);      /* Non-NULL anchor is expected. */
 
     if (anchor) {
-        if (!yaml_check_utf8(anchor, strlen((char *)anchor))) goto error;
         anchor_copy = yaml_strdup(anchor);
         if (!anchor_copy) goto error;
     }
 
     if (tag) {
-        if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag, strlen((char *)tag))) goto error;
         tag_copy = yaml_strdup(tag);
         if (!tag_copy) goto error;
     }
@@ -842,7 +787,6 @@
         length = strlen((char *)value);
     }
 
-    if (!yaml_check_utf8(value, length)) goto error;
     value_copy = yaml_malloc(length+1);
     if (!value_copy) goto error;
     memcpy(value_copy, value, length);
@@ -877,13 +821,11 @@
     assert(event);      /* Non-NULL event object is expected. */
 
     if (anchor) {
-        if (!yaml_check_utf8(anchor, strlen((char *)anchor))) goto error;
         anchor_copy = yaml_strdup(anchor);
         if (!anchor_copy) goto error;
     }
 
     if (tag) {
-        if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag, strlen((char *)tag))) goto error;
         tag_copy = yaml_strdup(tag);
         if (!tag_copy) goto error;
     }
@@ -932,13 +874,11 @@
     assert(event);      /* Non-NULL event object is expected. */
 
     if (anchor) {
-        if (!yaml_check_utf8(anchor, strlen((char *)anchor))) goto error;
         anchor_copy = yaml_strdup(anchor);
         if (!anchor_copy) goto error;
     }
 
     if (tag) {
-        if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag, strlen((char *)tag))) goto error;
         tag_copy = yaml_strdup(tag);
         if (!tag_copy) goto error;
     }
@@ -1072,12 +1012,6 @@
                 tag_directive != tag_directives_end; tag_directive ++) {
             assert(tag_directive->handle);
             assert(tag_directive->prefix);
-            if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag_directive->handle,
-                        strlen((char *)tag_directive->handle)))
-                goto error;
-            if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag_directive->prefix,
-                        strlen((char *)tag_directive->prefix)))
-                goto error;
             value.handle = yaml_strdup(tag_directive->handle);
             value.prefix = yaml_strdup(tag_directive->prefix);
             if (!value.handle || !value.prefix) goto error;
@@ -1210,7 +1144,6 @@
         tag = (yaml_char_t *)YAML_DEFAULT_SCALAR_TAG;
     }
 
-    if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag, strlen((char *)tag))) goto error;
     tag_copy = yaml_strdup(tag);
     if (!tag_copy) goto error;
 
@@ -1218,7 +1151,6 @@
         length = strlen((char *)value);
     }
 
-    if (!yaml_check_utf8(value, length)) goto error;
     value_copy = yaml_malloc(length+1);
     if (!value_copy) goto error;
     memcpy(value_copy, value, length);
@@ -1262,7 +1194,6 @@
         tag = (yaml_char_t *)YAML_DEFAULT_SEQUENCE_TAG;
     }
 
-    if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag, strlen((char *)tag))) goto error;
     tag_copy = yaml_strdup(tag);
     if (!tag_copy) goto error;
 
@@ -1307,7 +1238,6 @@
         tag = (yaml_char_t *)YAML_DEFAULT_MAPPING_TAG;
     }
 
-    if (!yaml_check_utf8(tag, strlen((char *)tag))) goto error;
     tag_copy = yaml_strdup(tag);
     if (!tag_copy) goto error;
 
diff -ur original_src/emitter.c src/emitter.c
--- original_src/emitter.c	2008-12-27 15:18:21.000000000 -0800
+++ src/emitter.c	2009-08-18 17:50:47.000000000 -0700
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
          1))
 
 /*
- * Copy a character from a string into buffer.
+ * Copy a byte from a string into buffer.
  */
 
 #define WRITE(emitter,string)                                                   \
@@ -46,6 +46,12 @@
          emitter->column ++,                                                    \
          1))
 
+#define WRITEN(emitter,string,n)                                                \
+    (FLUSH(emitter)                                                             \
+     && (COPYN(emitter->buffer,string,n),                                       \
+         emitter->column ++,                                                    \
+         1))
+
 /*
  * Copy a line break character from a string into buffer.
  */
@@ -56,7 +62,7 @@
          (PUT_BREAK(emitter),                                                   \
           string.pointer ++,                                                    \
           1) :                                                                  \
-         (COPY(emitter->buffer,string),                                         \
+         (COPYN(emitter->buffer,string,WIDTH(string)),                          \
           emitter->column = 0,                                                  \
           emitter->line ++,                                                     \
           1)))
@@ -1458,6 +1464,57 @@
     return 1;
 }
 
+/**
+  Return the number of bytes in the next UTF-8 character.
+
+  Returns 0 for any error, includinge incorrect bytes, not enough
+  bytes before the end pointer, and overlong encodings. If 0 is
+  returned, pointer[0] will always have the high bit set and will
+  thus never match any ASCII character.
+
+  The encodings of surrogate halves are allowed! Otherwise it is not
+  possible to losslessly encode invalid UTF-16 into UTF-8.  (There is
+  a vocal contingent trying to sabotage UTF-8 by declaring surrogate
+  half encodings invalid. Anybody such claim should be investigated
+  carefully: if that user's code does not also reject invalid UTF-16,
+  then they are being hypocrites and can be ignored.)
+*/
+static unsigned int utf8_width(yaml_char_t* pointer, yaml_char_t* end)
+{
+    unsigned char octet = pointer[0];
+    if (octet < 0x80) {
+        /* 1-byte character */
+        return 1;
+    } else if (octet < 0xC2) {
+        /* continuation byte or overlong 2-byte encoding */
+        return 0;
+    } else if (octet < 0xE0) {
+        /* 2-byte character */
+        if (end-pointer < 2) return 0;
+        if ((pointer[1] & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
+        return 2;
+    } else if (octet < 0xF0) {
+        /* 3-byte character */
+        if (end-pointer < 3) return 0;
+        if (octet == 0xE0 && pointer[1] < 0xA0) return 0; /* overlong */
+        if ((pointer[1] & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
+        if ((pointer[2] & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
+        return 3;
+    } else if (octet < 0xF5) {
+        /* 4-byte character */
+        if (end-pointer < 4) return 0;
+        if (octet == 0xF0 && pointer[1] < 0x90) return 0; /* overlong */
+        if (octet == 0xF4 && pointer[1] > 0x8F) return 0; /* > 0x10FFFF */
+        if ((pointer[1] & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
+        if ((pointer[2] & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
+        if ((pointer[3] & 0xC0) != 0x80) return 0;
+        return 4;
+    } else {
+        /* can never appear in UTF-8 */
+        return 0;
+    }
+}
+
 /*
  * Check if a scalar is valid.
  */
@@ -1481,7 +1538,6 @@
     int space_break = 0;
 
     int preceeded_by_whitespace = 0;
-    int followed_by_whitespace = 0;
     int previous_space = 0;
     int previous_break = 0;
 
@@ -1510,10 +1566,17 @@
     }
 
     preceeded_by_whitespace = 1;
-    followed_by_whitespace = IS_BLANKZ_AT(string, WIDTH(string));
 
     while (string.pointer != string.end)
     {
+        unsigned int width = utf8_width(string.pointer, string.end);
+
+        if (!width) {
+            special_characters = 1;
+            string.pointer++;
+            continue;
+        }
+
         if (string.start == string.pointer)
         {
             if (CHECK(string, '#') || CHECK(string, ',')
@@ -1530,12 +1593,12 @@
 
             if (CHECK(string, '?') || CHECK(string, ':')) {
                 flow_indicators = 1;
-                if (followed_by_whitespace) {
+                if (IS_BLANKZ_AT(string, 1)) {
                     block_indicators = 1;
                 }
             }
 
-            if (CHECK(string, '-') && followed_by_whitespace) {
+            if (CHECK(string, '-') && IS_BLANKZ_AT(string, 1)) {
                 flow_indicators = 1;
                 block_indicators = 1;
             }
@@ -1550,7 +1613,7 @@
 
             if (CHECK(string, ':')) {
                 flow_indicators = 1;
-                if (followed_by_whitespace) {
+                if (IS_BLANKZ_AT(string, 1)) {
                     block_indicators = 1;
                 }
             }
@@ -1566,10 +1629,6 @@
             special_characters = 1;
         }
 
-        if (IS_BREAK(string)) {
-            line_breaks = 1;
-        }
-
         if (IS_SPACE(string))
         {
             if (string.start == string.pointer) {
@@ -1586,6 +1645,7 @@
         }
         else if (IS_BREAK(string))
         {
+            line_breaks = 1;
             if (string.start == string.pointer) {
                 leading_break = 1;
             }
@@ -1605,10 +1665,7 @@
         }
 
         preceeded_by_whitespace = IS_BLANKZ(string);
-        MOVE(string);
-        if (string.pointer != string.end) {
-            followed_by_whitespace = IS_BLANKZ_AT(string, WIDTH(string));
-        }
+        MOVEN(string, width);
     }
 
     emitter->scalar_data.multiline = line_breaks;
@@ -1851,18 +1908,15 @@
             if (!WRITE(emitter, string)) return 0;
         }
         else {
-            int width = WIDTH(string);
-            unsigned int value;
-            while (width --) {
-                value = *(string.pointer++);
-                if (!PUT(emitter, '%')) return 0;
-                if (!PUT(emitter, (value >> 4)
-                            + ((value >> 4) < 10 ? '0' : 'A' - 10)))
-                    return 0;
-                if (!PUT(emitter, (value & 0x0F)
-                            + ((value & 0x0F) < 10 ? '0' : 'A' - 10)))
-                    return 0;
-            }
+            /* %-encode all other bytes, including valid and invalid UTF-8 */
+            unsigned char value = *(string.pointer++);
+            if (!PUT(emitter, '%')) return 0;
+            if (!PUT(emitter, (value >> 4)
+                     + ((value >> 4) < 10 ? '0' : 'A' - 10)))
+                return 0;
+            if (!PUT(emitter, (value & 0x0F)
+                     + ((value & 0x0F) < 10 ? '0' : 'A' - 10)))
+                return 0;
         }
     }
 
@@ -1991,6 +2045,8 @@
     return 1;
 }
 
+static unsigned char utf8_mask[5] = {0xFF, 0x7F, 0x1F, 0x0F, 0x07};
+
 static int
 yaml_emitter_write_double_quoted_scalar(yaml_emitter_t *emitter,
         yaml_char_t *value, size_t length, int allow_breaks)
@@ -2003,27 +2059,40 @@
 
     while (string.pointer != string.end)
     {
+        unsigned int width = utf8_width(string.pointer, string.end);
+
+        if (width == 0) {
+            /*
+              UTF-8 encoding error.  This is a byte with the high bit
+              set.  The parser has been altered to read \XNN as a raw
+              byte.  I would prefer to use lowercase x but the old
+              writer produces that for legal UTF-8 encodings of
+              U+0080..U+00FF. It is not clear what other parsers will
+              do with this, though previous libyaml threw an error.
+            */
+            unsigned int value = string.pointer[0];
+            int digit;
+            if (!PUT(emitter, '\\')) return 0;
+            if (!PUT(emitter, 'X')) return 0;
+            digit = (value >> 4) & 0x0F;
+            if (!PUT(emitter, digit + (digit < 10 ? '0' : 'A'-10))) return 0;
+            digit = value & 0x0F;
+            if (!PUT(emitter, digit + (digit < 10 ? '0' : 'A'-10))) return 0;
+            MOVE(string);
+            spaces = 0;
+            continue;
+        }
+
         if (!IS_PRINTABLE(string) || (!emitter->unicode && !IS_ASCII(string))
                 || IS_BOM(string) || IS_BREAK(string)
                 || CHECK(string, '"') || CHECK(string, '\\'))
         {
-            unsigned char octet;
-            unsigned int width;
             unsigned int value;
             int k;
 
-            octet = string.pointer[0];
-            width = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? 1 :
-                    (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? 2 :
-                    (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? 3 :
-                    (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? 4 : 0;
-            value = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? octet & 0x7F :
-                    (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? octet & 0x1F :
-                    (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? octet & 0x0F :
-                    (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? octet & 0x07 : 0;
+            value = string.pointer[0] & utf8_mask[width];
             for (k = 1; k < (int)width; k ++) {
-                octet = string.pointer[k];
-                value = (value << 6) + (octet & 0x3F);
+                value = (value << 6) + (string.pointer[k] & 0x3F);
             }
             string.pointer += width;
 
@@ -2092,11 +2161,13 @@
                     break;
 
                 default:
-                    if (value <= 0xFF) {
+                    // \xNN sequence is disabled so that it may be used in the
+                    // future for invalid byte sequences
+                    /*if (value <= 0xFF) {
                         if (!PUT(emitter, 'x')) return 0;
                         width = 2;
                     }
-                    else if (value <= 0xFFFF) {
+                    else*/ if (value <= 0xFFFF) {
                         if (!PUT(emitter, 'u')) return 0;
                         width = 4;
                     }
@@ -2131,7 +2202,7 @@
         }
         else
         {
-            if (!WRITE(emitter, string)) return 0;
+            if (!WRITEN(emitter, string, width)) return 0;
             spaces = 0;
         }
     }
diff -ur original_src/reader.c src/reader.c
--- original_src/reader.c	2008-12-27 15:18:21.000000000 -0800
+++ src/reader.c	2009-08-18 16:06:10.000000000 -0700
@@ -187,7 +187,6 @@
         while (parser->raw_buffer.pointer != parser->raw_buffer.last)
         {
             unsigned int value = 0, value2 = 0;
-            int incomplete = 0;
             unsigned char octet;
             unsigned int width = 0;
             int low, high;
@@ -199,96 +198,22 @@
             switch (parser->encoding)
             {
                 case YAML_UTF8_ENCODING:
-
-                    /*
-                     * Decode a UTF-8 character.  Check RFC 3629
-                     * (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3629.txt) for more details.
-                     *
-                     * The following table (taken from the RFC) is used for
-                     * decoding.
-                     *
-                     *    Char. number range |        UTF-8 octet sequence
-                     *      (hexadecimal)    |              (binary)
-                     *   --------------------+------------------------------------
-                     *   0000 0000-0000 007F | 0xxxxxxx
-                     *   0000 0080-0000 07FF | 110xxxxx 10xxxxxx
-                     *   0000 0800-0000 FFFF | 1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx
-                     *   0001 0000-0010 FFFF | 11110xxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx
-                     *
-                     * Additionally, the characters in the range 0xD800-0xDFFF
-                     * are prohibited as they are reserved for use with UTF-16
-                     * surrogate pairs.
-                     */
-
-                    /* Determine the length of the UTF-8 sequence. */
-
                     octet = parser->raw_buffer.pointer[0];
-                    width = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? 1 :
-                            (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? 2 :
-                            (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? 3 :
-                            (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? 4 : 0;
-
-                    /* Check if the leading octet is valid. */
-
-                    if (!width)
-                        return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                "Invalid leading UTF-8 octet",
-                                parser->offset, octet);
-
-                    /* Check if the raw buffer contains an incomplete character. */
-
-                    if (width > raw_unread) {
-                        if (parser->eof) {
-                            return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                    "Incomplete UTF-8 octet sequence",
-                                    parser->offset, -1);
-                        }
-                        incomplete = 1;
-                        break;
-                    }
-
-                    /* Decode the leading octet. */
-
-                    value = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? octet & 0x7F :
-                            (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? octet & 0x1F :
-                            (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? octet & 0x0F :
-                            (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? octet & 0x07 : 0;
-
-                    /* Check and decode the trailing octets. */
-
-                    for (k = 1; k < width; k ++)
-                    {
-                        octet = parser->raw_buffer.pointer[k];
-
-                        /* Check if the octet is valid. */
-
-                        if ((octet & 0xC0) != 0x80)
-                            return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                    "Invalid trailing UTF-8 octet",
-                                    parser->offset+k, octet);
-
-                        /* Decode the octet. */
-
-                        value = (value << 6) + (octet & 0x3F);
-                    }
-
-                    /* Check the length of the sequence against the value. */
-
-                    if (!((width == 1) ||
-                            (width == 2 && value >= 0x80) ||
-                            (width == 3 && value >= 0x800) ||
-                            (width == 4 && value >= 0x10000)))
-                        return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                "Invalid length of a UTF-8 sequence",
-                                parser->offset, -1);
-
-                    /* Check the range of the value. */
-
-                    if ((value >= 0xD800 && value <= 0xDFFF) || value > 0x10FFFF)
+                    /*
+                      We can only disallow characters without the high
+                      bit set. Characters with the high bit set are required
+                      for invalid UTF-8 strings to be encoded, as we
+                      cannot rely on any backslash sequences working.
+                    */
+                    if (! (octet == 0x09 || octet == 0x0A || octet == 0x0D
+                           || (octet >= 0x20 && octet != 0x7F) ))
                         return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                "Invalid Unicode character",
+                                "Control characters are not allowed",
                                 parser->offset, value);
 
+                    parser->raw_buffer.pointer++;
+                    parser->offset++;
+                    *(parser->buffer.last++) = octet;
                     break;
                 
                 case YAML_UTF16LE_ENCODING:
@@ -331,7 +256,6 @@
                                     "Incomplete UTF-16 character",
                                     parser->offset, -1);
                         }
-                        incomplete = 1;
                         break;
                     }
 
@@ -339,109 +263,88 @@
 
                     value = parser->raw_buffer.pointer[low]
                         + (parser->raw_buffer.pointer[high] << 8);
-
-                    /* Check for unexpected low surrogate area. */
-
-                    if ((value & 0xFC00) == 0xDC00)
-                        return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                "Unexpected low surrogate area",
-                                parser->offset, value);
+                    width = 2;
 
                     /* Check for a high surrogate area. */
 
                     if ((value & 0xFC00) == 0xD800) {
 
-                        width = 4;
-
                         /* Check for incomplete surrogate pair. */
 
                         if (raw_unread < 4) {
-                            if (parser->eof) {
-                                return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                        "Incomplete UTF-16 surrogate pair",
-                                        parser->offset, -1);
+                            if (parser->eof) { /* trailing high surrogate */
+                                width = 2;
+                            } else {
+                                break; /* Can't tell until we have more raw characters */
+                            }
+                        } else {
+
+                            /* Get the next character. */
+
+                            value2 = parser->raw_buffer.pointer[low+2]
+                                + (parser->raw_buffer.pointer[high+2] << 8);
+
+                            /* Check for a low surrogate area. */
+                            if ((value2 & 0xFC00) == 0xDC00) {
+                                width = 4;
+                                /* Generate the value of the surrogate pair. */
+                                value = 0x10000 + ((value & 0x3FF) << 10) + (value2 & 0x3FF);
                             }
-                            incomplete = 1;
-                            break;
                         }
+                    }
 
-                        /* Get the next character. */
+                    /* Check if the raw buffer contains enough bytes to form a character. */
 
-                        value2 = parser->raw_buffer.pointer[low+2]
-                            + (parser->raw_buffer.pointer[high+2] << 8);
+                    /*
+                     * Check if the character is in the allowed range:
+                     *      #x9 | #xA | #xD | [#x20-#x7E]               (8 bit)
+                     *      | #x85 | [#xA0-#xD7FF] | [#xE000-#xFFFD]    (16 bit)
+                     *      | [#x10000-#x10FFFF]                        (32 bit)
+                     */
+                    /* Modified to allow all 16-bit values as \uNNNN may not
+                     work for some parsers for these values. */
+                    if (! (value == 0x09 || value == 0x0A || value == 0x0D
+                           || (value >= 0x20 && value <= 0x7E)
+                           || (value == 0x85) || value >= 0xA0))
+                        return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
+                                "Control characters are not allowed",
+                                parser->offset, value);
 
-                        /* Check for a low surrogate area. */
+                    /* Move the raw pointers. */
 
-                        if ((value2 & 0xFC00) != 0xDC00)
-                            return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                                    "Expected low surrogate area",
-                                    parser->offset+2, value2);
+                    parser->raw_buffer.pointer += width;
+                    parser->offset += width;
 
-                        /* Generate the value of the surrogate pair. */
+                    /* Finally put the character into the buffer. */
 
-                        value = 0x10000 + ((value & 0x3FF) << 10) + (value2 & 0x3FF);
+                    /* 0000 0000-0000 007F -> 0xxxxxxx */
+                    if (value <= 0x7F) {
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = value;
                     }
-
+                    /* 0000 0080-0000 07FF -> 110xxxxx 10xxxxxx */
+                    else if (value <= 0x7FF) {
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0xC0 + (value >> 6);
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + (value & 0x3F);
+                    }
+                    /* 0000 0800-0000 FFFF -> 1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx */
+                    else if (value <= 0xFFFF) {
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0xE0 + (value >> 12);
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + ((value >> 6) & 0x3F);
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + (value & 0x3F);
+                    }
+                    /* 0001 0000-0010 FFFF -> 11110xxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx */
                     else {
-                        width = 2;
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0xF0 + (value >> 18);
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + ((value >> 12) & 0x3F);
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + ((value >> 6) & 0x3F);
+                        *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + (value & 0x3F);
                     }
-
                     break;
 
                 default:
                     assert(1);      /* Impossible. */
             }
 
-            /* Check if the raw buffer contains enough bytes to form a character. */
-
-            if (incomplete) break;
-
-            /*
-             * Check if the character is in the allowed range:
-             *      #x9 | #xA | #xD | [#x20-#x7E]               (8 bit)
-             *      | #x85 | [#xA0-#xD7FF] | [#xE000-#xFFFD]    (16 bit)
-             *      | [#x10000-#x10FFFF]                        (32 bit)
-             */
-
-            if (! (value == 0x09 || value == 0x0A || value == 0x0D
-                        || (value >= 0x20 && value <= 0x7E)
-                        || (value == 0x85) || (value >= 0xA0 && value <= 0xD7FF)
-                        || (value >= 0xE000 && value <= 0xFFFD)
-                        || (value >= 0x10000 && value <= 0x10FFFF)))
-                return yaml_parser_set_reader_error(parser,
-                        "Control characters are not allowed",
-                        parser->offset, value);
-
-            /* Move the raw pointers. */
-
-            parser->raw_buffer.pointer += width;
-            parser->offset += width;
-
-            /* Finally put the character into the buffer. */
-
-            /* 0000 0000-0000 007F -> 0xxxxxxx */
-            if (value <= 0x7F) {
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = value;
-            }
-            /* 0000 0080-0000 07FF -> 110xxxxx 10xxxxxx */
-            else if (value <= 0x7FF) {
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0xC0 + (value >> 6);
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + (value & 0x3F);
-            }
-            /* 0000 0800-0000 FFFF -> 1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx */
-            else if (value <= 0xFFFF) {
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0xE0 + (value >> 12);
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + ((value >> 6) & 0x3F);
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + (value & 0x3F);
-            }
-            /* 0001 0000-0010 FFFF -> 11110xxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx */
-            else {
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0xF0 + (value >> 18);
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + ((value >> 12) & 0x3F);
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + ((value >> 6) & 0x3F);
-                *(parser->buffer.last++) = 0x80 + (value & 0x3F);
-            }
-
             parser->unread ++;
         }
 
diff -ur original_src/scanner.c src/scanner.c
--- original_src/scanner.c	2008-12-27 15:18:21.000000000 -0800
+++ src/scanner.c	2009-08-18 17:56:35.000000000 -0700
@@ -495,8 +495,13 @@
      (parser->mark.index ++,                                                    \
       parser->mark.column ++,                                                   \
       parser->unread --,                                                        \
-      parser->buffer.pointer += WIDTH(parser->buffer))
+      parser->buffer.pointer ++)
 
+#define SKIPN(parser,n)                                                         \
+     (parser->mark.index ++,                                                    \
+      parser->mark.column ++,                                                   \
+      parser->unread --,                                                        \
+      parser->buffer.pointer += (n))
 #define SKIP_LINE(parser)                                                       \
      (IS_CRLF(parser->buffer) ?                                                 \
       (parser->mark.index += 2,                                                 \
@@ -523,6 +528,14 @@
           parser->unread --,                                                    \
           1) : 0)
 
+#define READN(parser,string,n)                                                  \
+     (STRING_EXTEND(parser,string) ?                                            \
+         (COPYN(string,parser->buffer,n),                                       \
+          parser->mark.index ++,                                                \
+          parser->mark.column ++,                                               \
+          parser->unread --,                                                    \
+          1) : 0)
+
 /*
  * Copy a line break character to a string buffer and advance pointers.
  */
@@ -1924,7 +1937,7 @@
         if (!CACHE(parser, 1)) return 0;
 
         if (parser->mark.column == 0 && IS_BOM(parser->buffer))
-            SKIP(parser);
+            SKIPN(parser,3); /* UTF-8 BOM is 3 bytes */
 
         /*
          * Eat whitespaces.
@@ -2657,63 +2670,30 @@
 yaml_parser_scan_uri_escapes(yaml_parser_t *parser, int directive,
         yaml_mark_t start_mark, yaml_string_t *string)
 {
-    int width = 0;
-
-    /* Decode the required number of characters. */
-
-    do {
-
-        unsigned char octet = 0;
-
-        /* Check for a URI-escaped octet. */
-
-        if (!CACHE(parser, 3)) return 0;
-
-        if (!(CHECK(parser->buffer, '%')
-                    && IS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 1)
-                    && IS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 2))) {
-            return yaml_parser_set_scanner_error(parser, directive ?
-                    "while parsing a %TAG directive" : "while parsing a tag",
-                    start_mark, "did not find URI escaped octet");
-        }
-
-        /* Get the octet. */
+    unsigned char octet = 0;
 
-        octet = (AS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 1) << 4) + AS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 2);
+    /* Check for a URI-escaped octet. */
 
-        /* If it is the leading octet, determine the length of the UTF-8 sequence. */
+    if (!CACHE(parser, 3)) return 0;
 
-        if (!width)
-        {
-            width = (octet & 0x80) == 0x00 ? 1 :
-                    (octet & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ? 2 :
-                    (octet & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ? 3 :
-                    (octet & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ? 4 : 0;
-            if (!width) {
-                return yaml_parser_set_scanner_error(parser, directive ?
-                        "while parsing a %TAG directive" : "while parsing a tag",
-                        start_mark, "found an incorrect leading UTF-8 octet");
-            }
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            /* Check if the trailing octet is correct. */
+    if (!(CHECK(parser->buffer, '%')
+          && IS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 1)
+          && IS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 2))) {
+        return yaml_parser_set_scanner_error(parser, directive ?
+                "while parsing a %TAG directive" : "while parsing a tag",
+                start_mark, "did not find URI escaped octet");
+    }
 
-            if ((octet & 0xC0) != 0x80) {
-                return yaml_parser_set_scanner_error(parser, directive ?
-                        "while parsing a %TAG directive" : "while parsing a tag",
-                        start_mark, "found an incorrect trailing UTF-8 octet");
-            }
-        }
+    /* Get the octet. */
 
-        /* Copy the octet and move the pointers. */
+    octet = (AS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 1) << 4) + AS_HEX_AT(parser->buffer, 2);
 
-        *(string->pointer++) = octet;
-        SKIP(parser);
-        SKIP(parser);
-        SKIP(parser);
+    /* Copy the octet and move the pointers. */
 
-    } while (--width);
+    *(string->pointer++) = octet;
+    SKIP(parser);
+    SKIP(parser);
+    SKIP(parser);
 
     return 1;
 }
@@ -3102,6 +3082,7 @@
             else if (!single && CHECK(parser->buffer, '\\'))
             {
                 size_t code_length = 0;
+                int raw_code = 0;
 
                 if (!STRING_EXTEND(parser, string)) goto error;
 
@@ -3188,6 +3169,11 @@
                         code_length = 2;
                         break;
 
+                    case 'X':
+                        code_length = 2;
+                        raw_code = 1;
+                        break;
+
                     case 'u':
                         code_length = 4;
                         break;
@@ -3233,7 +3219,7 @@
                         goto error;
                     }
 
-                    if (value <= 0x7F) {
+                    if (value <= 0x7F || raw_code) {
                         *(string.pointer++) = value;
                     }
                     else if (value <= 0x7FF) {
@@ -3262,7 +3248,7 @@
 
             else
             {
-                /* It is a non-escaped non-blank character. */
+                /* It is a non-escaped non-blank byte. */
 
                 if (!READ(parser, string)) goto error;
             }
@@ -3474,7 +3460,7 @@
                 }
             }
 
-            /* Copy the character. */
+            /* Copy the byte. */
 
             if (!READ(parser, string)) goto error;
 
diff -ur original_src/yaml_private.h src/yaml_private.h
--- original_src/yaml_private.h	2008-12-27 15:18:21.000000000 -0800
+++ src/yaml_private.h	2009-08-18 17:57:05.000000000 -0700
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 yaml_strdup(const yaml_char_t *);
 
 /*
- * Reader: Ensure that the buffer contains at least `length` characters.
+ * Reader: Ensure that the buffer contains at least `length` bytes.
  */
 
 YAML_DECLARE(int)
@@ -237,6 +237,7 @@
 
 /*
  * Check if the character can be printed unescaped.
+ * Only correct if you know you are looking at valid UTF-8!
  */
 
 #define IS_PRINTABLE_AT(string,offset)                                          \
@@ -355,6 +356,7 @@
 
 /*
  * Determine the width of the character.
+ * Only correct if you know you are looking at valid UTF-8!
  */
 
 #define WIDTH_AT(string,offset)                                                 \
@@ -366,30 +368,23 @@
 #define WIDTH(string)   WIDTH_AT((string),0)
 
 /*
- * Move the string pointer to the next character.
+ * Move the string pointer to the next byte.
  */
 
-#define MOVE(string)    ((string).pointer += WIDTH((string)))
+#define MOVE(string)    ((string).pointer++)
+
+#define MOVEN(string,n)  ((string).pointer += n)
 
 /*
- * Copy a character and move the pointers of both strings.
+ * Copy a byte and move the pointers of both strings.
  */
 
 #define COPY(string_a,string_b)                                                 \
-    ((*(string_b).pointer & 0x80) == 0x00 ?                                     \
-     (*((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++)) :                      \
-     (*(string_b).pointer & 0xE0) == 0xC0 ?                                     \
-     (*((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++),                        \
-      *((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++)) :                      \
-     (*(string_b).pointer & 0xF0) == 0xE0 ?                                     \
-     (*((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++),                        \
-      *((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++),                        \
-      *((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++)) :                      \
-     (*(string_b).pointer & 0xF8) == 0xF0 ?                                     \
-     (*((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++),                        \
-      *((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++),                        \
-      *((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++),                        \
-      *((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++)) : 0)
+     (*((string_a).pointer++) = *((string_b).pointer++))
+
+#define COPYN(string_a,string_b,n)                                              \
+  (memcpy(string_a.pointer, string_b.pointer, n),                               \
+   string_a.pointer += n, string_b.pointer += n)
 
 /*
  * Stack and queue management.
