diff --git a/include/unicode.h b/include/unicode.h
index eaf67c833..e9e2bd14a 100644
--- a/include/unicode.h
+++ b/include/unicode.h
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ enum {
 
 #if !ENABLE_UNICODE_SUPPORT
 
-# define unicode_strlen(string) strlen(string)
+# define unicode_strlen(string)   strlen(string)
+# define unicode_strwidth(string) strlen(string)
 # define unicode_status UNICODE_OFF
 # define init_unicode() ((void)0)
 
@@ -49,7 +50,10 @@ enum {
 #  define ENABLE_UNICODE_BIDI_SUPPORT 0
 # endif
 
+/* Number of unicode chars. Falls back to strlen() on invalid unicode */
 size_t FAST_FUNC unicode_strlen(const char *string);
+/* Width on terminal */
+size_t FAST_FUNC unicode_strwidth(const char *string);
 enum {
 	UNI_FLAG_PAD = (1 << 0),
 };
diff --git a/libbb/lineedit.c b/libbb/lineedit.c
index 18664b8c1..8a2ea7974 100644
--- a/libbb/lineedit.c
+++ b/libbb/lineedit.c
@@ -992,7 +992,7 @@ static void showfiles(void)
 
 	/* find the longest file name - use that as the column width */
 	for (row = 0; row < nrows; row++) {
-		l = unicode_strlen(matches[row]);
+		l = unicode_strwidth(matches[row]);
 		if (column_width < l)
 			column_width = l;
 	}
@@ -1012,10 +1012,13 @@ static void showfiles(void)
 
 		for (nc = 1; nc < ncols && n+nrows < nfiles; n += nrows, nc++) {
 			printf("%s%-*s", matches[n],
-				(int)(column_width - unicode_strlen(matches[n])), ""
+				(int)(column_width - unicode_strwidth(matches[n])), ""
 			);
 		}
-		puts(matches[n]);
+		if (ENABLE_UNICODE_SUPPORT)
+			puts(printable_string(NULL, matches[n]));
+		else
+			puts(matches[n]);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/libbb/unicode.c b/libbb/unicode.c
index b2c28239b..d6fcf7a43 100644
--- a/libbb/unicode.c
+++ b/libbb/unicode.c
@@ -25,13 +25,15 @@ uint8_t unicode_status;
 
 void FAST_FUNC init_unicode(void)
 {
-	/* In unicode, this is a one character string */
 	static const char unicode_0x394[] = { 0xce, 0x94, 0 };
+	size_t width;
 
 	if (unicode_status != UNICODE_UNKNOWN)
 		return;
-
-	unicode_status = unicode_strlen(unicode_0x394) == 1 ? UNICODE_ON : UNICODE_OFF;
+	/* In unicode, this is a one character string */
+// can use unicode_strlen(string) too, but otherwise unicode_strlen() is unused
+	width = mbstowcs(NULL, unicode_0x394, INT_MAX);
+	unicode_status = (width == 1 ? UNICODE_ON : UNICODE_OFF);
 }
 
 #else
@@ -954,6 +956,7 @@ int FAST_FUNC unicode_bidi_is_neutral_wchar(wint_t wc)
 
 /* The rest is mostly same for libc and for "homegrown" support */
 
+#if 0 // UNUSED
 size_t FAST_FUNC unicode_strlen(const char *string)
 {
 	size_t width = mbstowcs(NULL, string, INT_MAX);
@@ -961,6 +964,14 @@ size_t FAST_FUNC unicode_strlen(const char *string)
 		return strlen(string);
 	return width;
 }
+#endif
+
+size_t FAST_FUNC unicode_strwidth(const char *string)
+{
+	uni_stat_t uni_stat;
+	printable_string(&uni_stat, string);
+	return uni_stat.unicode_width;
+}
 
 static char* FAST_FUNC unicode_conv_to_printable2(uni_stat_t *stats, const char *src, unsigned width, int flags)
 {