diff --git a/src/text.cpp b/src/text.cpp
index 2ab433208..d22c9c2dd 100644
--- a/src/text.cpp
+++ b/src/text.cpp
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ std::string leftJustify (const int input, const int width)
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 std::string leftJustify (const std::string& input, const int width)
 {
-  return input + std::string (width - input.length (), ' ');
+  return input + std::string (width - characters (input), ' ');
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ std::string rightJustify (const int input, const int width)
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 std::string rightJustify (const std::string& input, const int width)
 {
-  return std::string (width - input.length (), ' ') + input;
+  return std::string (width - characters (input), ' ') + input;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/test/text.t.cpp b/test/text.t.cpp
index 896caa2e2..23b7bea1d 100644
--- a/test/text.t.cpp
+++ b/test/text.t.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ Context context;
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 int main (int argc, char** argv)
 {
-  UnitTest t (220);
+  UnitTest t (222);
 
   // void wrapText (std::vector <std::string>& lines, const std::string& text, const int width)
   std::string text = "This is a test of the line wrapping code.";
@@ -425,6 +425,7 @@ int main (int argc, char** argv)
   t.is (leftJustify ("foo", 3), "foo",   "leftJustify foo,3 -> 'foo'");
   t.is (leftJustify ("foo", 4), "foo ",  "leftJustify foo,4 -> 'foo '");
   t.is (leftJustify ("foo", 5), "foo  ", "leftJustify foo,5 -> 'foo  '");
+  t.is (leftJustify ("föo", 5), "föo  ", "leftJustify föo,5 -> 'föo  '");
 
   // std::string rightJustify (const std::string&, const int);
   t.is (rightJustify (123, 3), "123",   "rightJustify 123,3 -> '123'");
@@ -435,6 +436,7 @@ int main (int argc, char** argv)
   t.is (rightJustify ("foo", 3), "foo",   "rightJustify foo,3 -> 'foo'");
   t.is (rightJustify ("foo", 4), " foo",  "rightJustify foo,4 -> ' foo'");
   t.is (rightJustify ("foo", 5), "  foo", "rightJustify foo,5 -> '  foo'");
+  t.is (rightJustify ("föo", 5), "  föo", "rightJustify föo,5 -> '  föo'");
 
   return 0;
 }