diff --git a/src/chars.c b/src/chars.c
index 9ea0bc07..0bb6a3e4 100644
--- a/src/chars.c
+++ b/src/chars.c
@@ -292,10 +292,9 @@ char *make_mbchar(long chr, int *chr_mb_len)
  * col isn't NULL, add the character's width (in columns) to it. */
 int parse_mbchar(const char *buf, char *chr, size_t *col)
 {
-#ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
-	if (use_utf8) {
 		int length;
 
+#ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 		/* If this is a UTF-8 starter byte, get the number of bytes of the character. */
 		if ((signed char)*buf < 0) {
 			length = mblen(buf, MAXCHARLEN);
@@ -304,6 +303,7 @@ int parse_mbchar(const char *buf, char *chr, size_t *col)
 			if (length <= 0)
 				length = 1;
 		} else
+#endif
 			length = 1;
 
 		/* When requested, store the multibyte character in chr. */
@@ -327,35 +327,13 @@ int parse_mbchar(const char *buf, char *chr, size_t *col)
 			/* If we have a normal character, get its width normally. */
 			} else if (length == 1)
 				*col += 1;
+#ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 			else
 				*col += mbwidth(buf);
+#endif
 		}
 
 		return length;
-	} else
-#endif
-	{
-		/* When requested, store the byte character in chr. */
-		if (chr != NULL)
-			*chr = *buf;
-
-		/* When requested, add the width of the character to col. */
-		if (col != NULL) {
-			/* If we have a tab, compute its width in columns using the
-			 * current value of col. */
-			if (*buf == '\t')
-				*col += tabsize - *col % tabsize;
-			/* If we have a control character, it's two columns wide: one
-			 * column for the "^", and one for the visible character. */
-			else if (is_cntrl_char((unsigned char)*buf))
-				*col += 2;
-			/* If we have a normal character, it's one column wide. */
-			else
-				(*col)++;
-		}
-
-		return 1;
-	}
 }
 
 /* Return the index in buf of the beginning of the multibyte character