diff --git a/colcat.c b/colcat.c
index 08cbd56..1dec9d7 100644
--- a/colcat.c
+++ b/colcat.c
@@ -85,8 +85,11 @@ int display(FILE *file) {
         counter = num_colours; // so that print starts at reverse=true
     }
     bool in_escape = false;
+    bool in_utf8_mbchar = false;
     bool vert_reverse = false;
     while (c != EOF) {
+
+
         if (c == '\n') {
             if (frequency && end) {
                 if (counter % (end) == 0) {
@@ -101,6 +104,13 @@ int display(FILE *file) {
             }
             reverse = false;
         }
+
+        if ((c & 0b11000000) == 0b10000000) {
+            in_utf8_mbchar = true;
+        } else {
+            in_utf8_mbchar = false;
+        }
+
         if (c == '\033') {
             in_escape = true;
         } else if (end_hue_ansi_code(c) && in_escape) {
@@ -111,7 +121,7 @@ int display(FILE *file) {
             continue;
         }
         
-        if (!in_escape) {
+        if (!in_escape && !in_utf8_mbchar) {
             print_next_colour(counter);
         }