diff --git a/src/chars.c b/src/chars.c
index 7aeec524..66867647 100644
--- a/src/chars.c
+++ b/src/chars.c
@@ -122,10 +122,9 @@ bool is_punct_mbchar(const char *c)
 		return ispunct((unsigned char)*c);
 }
 
-/* Return TRUE when the given multibyte character c is a word-forming
- * character (that is: alphanumeric, or specified in wordchars, or
- * punctuation when allow_punct is TRUE), and FALSE otherwise. */
-bool is_word_mbchar(const char *c, bool allow_punct)
+/* Return TRUE when the given character is word-forming (it is alphanumeric or
+ * specified in 'wordchars', or it is punctuation when allow_punct is TRUE). */
+bool is_word_char(const char *c, bool allow_punct)
 {
 	if (*c == '\0')
 		return FALSE;
diff --git a/src/move.c b/src/move.c
index fd27244e..9f770289 100644
--- a/src/move.c
+++ b/src/move.c
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ void do_prev_word(bool allow_punct)
 		openfile->current_x = step_left(openfile->current->data,
 												openfile->current_x);
 
-		if (is_word_mbchar(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
+		if (is_word_char(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
 								allow_punct)) {
 			seen_a_word = TRUE;
 			/* If at the head of a line now, this surely is a word start. */
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ void do_prev_word(bool allow_punct)
  * part of a word.  Return TRUE if we started on a word, and FALSE otherwise. */
 bool do_next_word(bool after_ends, bool allow_punct)
 {
-	bool started_on_word = is_word_mbchar(openfile->current->data +
+	bool started_on_word = is_word_char(openfile->current->data +
 								openfile->current_x, allow_punct);
 	bool seen_space = !started_on_word;
 #ifndef NANO_TINY
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ bool do_next_word(bool after_ends, bool allow_punct)
 		if (after_ends) {
 			/* If this is a word character, continue; else it's a separator,
 			 * and if we've already seen a word, then it's a word end. */
-			if (is_word_mbchar(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
+			if (is_word_char(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
 								allow_punct))
 				seen_word = TRUE;
 			else if (seen_word)
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ bool do_next_word(bool after_ends, bool allow_punct)
 		{
 			/* If this is not a word character, then it's a separator; else
 			 * if we've already seen a separator, then it's a word start. */
-			if (!is_word_mbchar(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
+			if (!is_word_char(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
 								allow_punct))
 				seen_space = TRUE;
 			else if (seen_space)
diff --git a/src/prompt.c b/src/prompt.c
index 80d2dbc4..d75b984a 100644
--- a/src/prompt.c
+++ b/src/prompt.c
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ void do_statusbar_end(void)
 /* Move to the next word in the answer. */
 void do_statusbar_next_word(void)
 {
-	bool seen_space = !is_word_mbchar(answer + typing_x, FALSE);
+	bool seen_space = !is_word_char(answer + typing_x, FALSE);
 	bool seen_word = !seen_space;
 
 	/* Move forward until we reach either the end or the start of a word,
@@ -55,14 +55,14 @@ void do_statusbar_next_word(void)
 		if (ISSET(AFTER_ENDS)) {
 			/* If this is a word character, continue; else it's a separator,
 			 * and if we've already seen a word, then it's a word end. */
-			if (is_word_mbchar(answer + typing_x, FALSE))
+			if (is_word_char(answer + typing_x, FALSE))
 				seen_word = TRUE;
 			else if (seen_word)
 				break;
 		} else {
 			/* If this is not a word character, then it's a separator; else
 			 * if we've already seen a separator, then it's a word start. */
-			if (!is_word_mbchar(answer + typing_x, FALSE))
+			if (!is_word_char(answer + typing_x, FALSE))
 				seen_space = TRUE;
 			else if (seen_space)
 				break;
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ void do_statusbar_prev_word(void)
 	while (typing_x != 0) {
 		typing_x = step_left(answer, typing_x);
 
-		if (is_word_mbchar(answer + typing_x, FALSE))
+		if (is_word_char(answer + typing_x, FALSE))
 			seen_a_word = TRUE;
 		else if (seen_a_word) {
 			/* This is space now: we've overshot the start of the word. */
diff --git a/src/proto.h b/src/proto.h
index 464adac7..87b99ee7 100644
--- a/src/proto.h
+++ b/src/proto.h
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ bool using_utf8(void);
 bool is_alpha_mbchar(const char *c);
 bool is_blank_char(const char *c);
 bool is_cntrl_mbchar(const char *c);
-bool is_word_mbchar(const char *c, bool allow_punct);
+bool is_word_char(const char *c, bool allow_punct);
 char control_mbrep(const char *c, bool isdata);
 #ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 int mbwidth(const char *c);
diff --git a/src/text.c b/src/text.c
index e49dd786..434201cc 100644
--- a/src/text.c
+++ b/src/text.c
@@ -2996,7 +2996,7 @@ char *copy_completion(char *text)
 	size_t length = 0, index = 0;
 
 	/* Find the end of the candidate word to get its length. */
-	while (is_word_mbchar(&text[length], FALSE))
+	while (is_word_char(&text[length], FALSE))
 		length = step_right(text, length);
 
 	/* Now copy this candidate to a new string. */
@@ -3051,7 +3051,7 @@ void complete_a_word(void)
 	while (start_of_shard > 0) {
 		size_t oneleft = step_left(openfile->current->data, start_of_shard);
 
-		if (!is_word_mbchar(&openfile->current->data[oneleft], FALSE))
+		if (!is_word_char(&openfile->current->data[oneleft], FALSE))
 			break;
 		start_of_shard = oneleft;
 	}
@@ -3092,11 +3092,11 @@ void complete_a_word(void)
 				continue;
 
 			/* If the found match is not /longer/ than shard, skip it. */
-			if (!is_word_mbchar(&pletion_line->data[i + j], FALSE))
+			if (!is_word_char(&pletion_line->data[i + j], FALSE))
 				continue;
 
 			/* If the match is not a separate word, skip it. */
-			if (i > 0 && is_word_mbchar(&pletion_line->data[
+			if (i > 0 && is_word_char(&pletion_line->data[
 								step_left(pletion_line->data, i)], FALSE))
 				continue;