diff --git a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
index 44edc0b6..52bff8d0 100644
--- a/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/chaiscript/language/chaiscript_parser.hpp
@@ -530,6 +530,9 @@ namespace chaiscript
         bool retval = false;
 
         while (m_position.has_more()) {
+          if(static_cast<size_t>(*m_position) > 0x7e) {
+            throw exception::eval_error("Illegal character", File_Position(m_position.line, m_position.col), *m_filename);
+          }
           auto end_line = (*m_position != 0) && ((*m_position == '\n') || (*m_position == '\r' && *(m_position+1) == '\n'));
 
           if ( char_in_alphabet(*m_position,detail::white_alphabet) || (skip_cr && end_line)) {
@@ -2569,9 +2572,9 @@ namespace chaiscript
         m_position = Position(t_input.begin(), t_input.end());
         m_filename = std::make_shared<std::string>(std::move(t_fname));
 
-        if (detail::Char_Parser_Helper<std::string>::has_utf8_bom(t_input)) {
-           throw exception::eval_error("UTF-8 in user provided input!");
-        }
+        //if (detail::Char_Parser_Helper<std::string>::has_utf8_bom(t_input)) {
+        //   throw exception::eval_error("UTF-8 in user provided input!");
+        //}
 
         if ((t_input.size() > 1) && (t_input[0] == '#') && (t_input[1] == '!')) {
           while (m_position.has_more() && (!Eol())) {