diff --git a/runtime/doc/mbyte.txt b/runtime/doc/mbyte.txt
index a8c5670352..47fd4f3343 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/mbyte.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/mbyte.txt
@@ -646,6 +646,12 @@ widespread as file format.
 A composing or combining character is used to change the meaning of the
 character before it.  The combining characters are drawn on top of the
 preceding character.
+
+Nvim largely follows the definition of extended grapheme clusters in UAX#29
+in the Unicode standard, with some modifications: An ascii char will always
+start a new cluster. In addition 'arabicshape' enables the combining of some
+arabic letters, when they are shaped to be displayed together in a single cell.
+
 Too big combined characters cannot be displayed, but they can still be
 inspected using the |g8| and |ga| commands described below.
 When editing text a composing character is mostly considered part of the
diff --git a/runtime/doc/news.txt b/runtime/doc/news.txt
index 80511ccb87..b7e1e0c84f 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/news.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/news.txt
@@ -200,6 +200,12 @@ These existing features changed their behavior.
   top lines are calculated using screen line numbers which take virtual lines
   into account.
 
+• The implementation of grapheme clusters (or combining chars |mbyte-combining|)
+  was upgraded to closely follow extended grapheme clusters as defined by UAX#29
+  in the unicode standard. Noteworthily, this enables proper display of many
+  more emoji characters than before, including those encoded with multiple
+  emoji codepoints combined with ZWJ (zero width joiner) codepoints.
+
 ==============================================================================
 REMOVED FEATURES                                                 *news-removed*
 
diff --git a/runtime/doc/options.txt b/runtime/doc/options.txt
index f44e0954a5..4945a1b46d 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/options.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/options.txt
@@ -2217,9 +2217,12 @@ A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
 			global
 	When on all Unicode emoji characters are considered to be full width.
 	This excludes "text emoji" characters, which are normally displayed as
-	single width.  Unfortunately there is no good specification for this
-	and it has been determined on trial-and-error basis.  Use the
-	|setcellwidths()| function to change the behavior.
+	single width. However, such "text emoji" are treated as full-width
+	emoji if they are followed by the U+FE0F variant selector.
+
+	Unfortunately there is no good specification for this and it has been
+	determined on trial-and-error basis.  Use the |setcellwidths()|
+	function to change the behavior.
 
 						*'encoding'* *'enc'*
 'encoding' 'enc'	string	(default "utf-8")
diff --git a/runtime/lua/vim/_meta/options.lua b/runtime/lua/vim/_meta/options.lua
index b4ac478b61..05c9b89d77 100644
--- a/runtime/lua/vim/_meta/options.lua
+++ b/runtime/lua/vim/_meta/options.lua
@@ -1829,9 +1829,12 @@ vim.go.ead = vim.go.eadirection
 
 --- When on all Unicode emoji characters are considered to be full width.
 --- This excludes "text emoji" characters, which are normally displayed as
---- single width.  Unfortunately there is no good specification for this
---- and it has been determined on trial-and-error basis.  Use the
---- `setcellwidths()` function to change the behavior.
+--- single width. However, such "text emoji" are treated as full-width
+--- emoji if they are followed by the U+FE0F variant selector.
+---
+--- Unfortunately there is no good specification for this and it has been
+--- determined on trial-and-error basis.  Use the `setcellwidths()`
+--- function to change the behavior.
 ---
 --- @type boolean
 vim.o.emoji = true
diff --git a/src/nvim/api/extmark.c b/src/nvim/api/extmark.c
index 1673519479..d694b64f66 100644
--- a/src/nvim/api/extmark.c
+++ b/src/nvim/api/extmark.c
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ Integer nvim_buf_set_extmark(Buffer buffer, Integer ns_id, Integer line, Integer
     String c = opts->conceal;
     if (c.size > 0) {
       int ch;
-      hl.conceal_char = utfc_ptr2schar_len(c.data, (int)c.size, &ch);
+      hl.conceal_char = utfc_ptr2schar(c.data, &ch);
       if (!hl.conceal_char || !vim_isprintc(ch)) {
         api_set_error(err, kErrorTypeValidation, "conceal char has to be printable");
         goto error;
diff --git a/src/nvim/api/ui.c b/src/nvim/api/ui.c
index 82a5ff5f8e..a99d97acb8 100644
--- a/src/nvim/api/ui.c
+++ b/src/nvim/api/ui.c
@@ -847,7 +847,7 @@ void remote_ui_raw_line(RemoteUI *ui, Integer grid, Integer row, Integer startco
       char sc_buf[MAX_SCHAR_SIZE];
       schar_get(sc_buf, chunk[i]);
       remote_ui_put(ui, sc_buf);
-      if (utf_ambiguous_width(utf_ptr2char(sc_buf))) {
+      if (utf_ambiguous_width(sc_buf)) {
         ui->client_col = -1;  // force cursor update
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/nvim/change.c b/src/nvim/change.c
index 6e9fab5a9b..47a9f0ce92 100644
--- a/src/nvim/change.c
+++ b/src/nvim/change.c
@@ -896,14 +896,15 @@ int del_bytes(colnr_T count, bool fixpos_arg, bool use_delcombine)
   // delete the last combining character.
   if (p_deco && use_delcombine && utfc_ptr2len(oldp + col) >= count) {
     char *p0 = oldp + col;
-    if (utf_composinglike(p0, p0 + utf_ptr2len(p0))) {
+    GraphemeState state = GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT;
+    if (utf_composinglike(p0, p0 + utf_ptr2len(p0), &state)) {
       // Find the last composing char, there can be several.
       int n = col;
       do {
         col = n;
         count = utf_ptr2len(oldp + n);
         n += count;
-      } while (utf_composinglike(oldp + col, oldp + n));
+      } while (utf_composinglike(oldp + col, oldp + n, &state));
       fixpos = false;
     }
   }
@@ -1694,7 +1695,7 @@ bool open_line(int dir, int flags, int second_line_indent, bool *did_do_comment)
     }
     if (curbuf->b_p_ai || (flags & OPENLINE_DELSPACES)) {
       while ((*p_extra == ' ' || *p_extra == '\t')
-             && !utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char(p_extra + 1))) {
+             && !utf_iscomposing_first(utf_ptr2char(p_extra + 1))) {
         if (REPLACE_NORMAL(State)) {
           replace_push(*p_extra);
         }
diff --git a/src/nvim/digraph.c b/src/nvim/digraph.c
index 8149c5964f..7413d33fe4 100644
--- a/src/nvim/digraph.c
+++ b/src/nvim/digraph.c
@@ -1865,7 +1865,7 @@ static void printdigraph(const digr_T *dp, result_T *previous)
   p = buf;
 
   // add a space to draw a composing char on
-  if (utf_iscomposing(dp->result)) {
+  if (utf_iscomposing_first(dp->result)) {
     *p++ = ' ';
   }
   p += utf_char2bytes(dp->result, p);
diff --git a/src/nvim/drawline.c b/src/nvim/drawline.c
index 8a948716e5..b5273a54ca 100644
--- a/src/nvim/drawline.c
+++ b/src/nvim/drawline.c
@@ -1826,7 +1826,7 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
 
         // If a double-width char doesn't fit display a '>' in the last column.
         // Don't advance the pointer but put the character at the start of the next line.
-        if (wlv.col >= grid->cols - 1 && utf_char2cells(mb_c) == 2) {
+        if (wlv.col >= grid->cols - 1 && schar_cells(mb_schar) == 2) {
           mb_c = '>';
           mb_l = 1;
           (void)mb_l;
@@ -1922,7 +1922,7 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
       // If a double-width char doesn't fit display a '>' in the
       // last column; the character is displayed at the start of the
       // next line.
-      if (wlv.col >= grid->cols - 1 && utf_char2cells(mb_c) == 2) {
+      if (wlv.col >= grid->cols - 1 && schar_cells(mb_schar) == 2) {
         mb_schar = schar_from_ascii('>');
         mb_c = '>';
         mb_l = 1;
@@ -2393,6 +2393,12 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
                 || (decor_conceal && decor_state.conceal_char)
                 || wp->w_p_cole == 1)
             && wp->w_p_cole != 3) {
+          if (schar_cells(mb_schar) > 1) {
+            // When the first char to be concealed is double-width,
+            // need to advance one more virtual column.
+            wlv.n_extra++;
+          }
+
           // First time at this concealed item: display one
           // character.
           if (has_match_conc && match_conc) {
@@ -2410,12 +2416,6 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
             mb_schar = schar_from_ascii(' ');
           }
 
-          if (utf_char2cells(mb_c) > 1) {
-            // When the first char to be concealed is double-width,
-            // need to advance one more virtual column.
-            wlv.n_extra++;
-          }
-
           mb_c = schar_get_first_codepoint(mb_schar);
 
           prev_syntax_id = syntax_seqnr;
@@ -2484,7 +2484,7 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
         && mb_schar != NUL) {
       mb_schar = wp->w_p_lcs_chars.prec;
       lcs_prec_todo = NUL;
-      if (utf_char2cells(mb_c) > 1) {
+      if (schar_cells(mb_schar) > 1) {
         // Double-width character being overwritten by the "precedes"
         // character, need to fill up half the character.
         wlv.sc_extra = schar_from_ascii(MB_FILLER_CHAR);
@@ -2725,7 +2725,7 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
 
       linebuf_vcol[wlv.off] = wlv.vcol;
 
-      if (utf_char2cells(mb_c) > 1) {
+      if (schar_cells(mb_schar) > 1) {
         // Need to fill two screen columns.
         wlv.off++;
         wlv.col++;
@@ -2744,7 +2744,7 @@ int win_line(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, int startrow, int endrow, int col_rows, s
       wlv.off++;
       wlv.col++;
     } else if (wp->w_p_cole > 0 && is_concealing) {
-      bool concealed_wide = utf_char2cells(mb_c) > 1;
+      bool concealed_wide = schar_cells(mb_schar) > 1;
 
       wlv.skip_cells--;
       wlv.vcol_off_co++;
diff --git a/src/nvim/edit.c b/src/nvim/edit.c
index 00ce38c4b1..f8723f9680 100644
--- a/src/nvim/edit.c
+++ b/src/nvim/edit.c
@@ -2832,6 +2832,8 @@ int replace_push_mb(char *p)
 {
   int l = utfc_ptr2len(p);
 
+  // TODO(bfredl): stop doing this insantity and instead use utf_head_off() when popping.
+  // or just keep a secondary array with char byte lenghts
   for (int j = l - 1; j >= 0; j--) {
     replace_push(p[j]);
   }
@@ -2911,7 +2913,9 @@ static void mb_replace_pop_ins(int cc)
     for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
       buf[i] = (uint8_t)replace_pop();
     }
-    if (utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char((char *)buf))) {
+    // TODO(bfredl): by fixing replace_push_mb, upgrade to use
+    // the new composing algorithm
+    if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(utf_ptr2char((char *)buf))) {
       ins_bytes_len((char *)buf, (size_t)n);
     } else {
       // Not a composing char, put it back.
@@ -3843,7 +3847,7 @@ static bool ins_bs(int c, int mode, int *inserted_space_p)
           space_sci = sci;
           space_vcol = vcol;
         }
-        vcol += charsize_nowrap(curbuf, use_ts, vcol, sci.chr.value);
+        vcol += charsize_nowrap(curbuf, sci.ptr, use_ts, vcol, sci.chr.value);
         sci = utfc_next(sci);
         prev_space = cur_space;
       }
@@ -3859,7 +3863,7 @@ static bool ins_bs(int c, int mode, int *inserted_space_p)
       // Find the position to stop backspacing.
       // Use charsize_nowrap() so that virtual text and wrapping are ignored.
       while (true) {
-        int size = charsize_nowrap(curbuf, use_ts, space_vcol, space_sci.chr.value);
+        int size = charsize_nowrap(curbuf, space_sci.ptr, use_ts, space_vcol, space_sci.chr.value);
         if (space_vcol + size > want_vcol) {
           break;
         }
@@ -3930,7 +3934,7 @@ static bool ins_bs(int c, int mode, int *inserted_space_p)
           bool has_composing = false;
           if (p_deco) {
             char *p0 = get_cursor_pos_ptr();
-            has_composing = utf_composinglike(p0, p0 + utf_ptr2len(p0));
+            has_composing = utf_composinglike(p0, p0 + utf_ptr2len(p0), NULL);
           }
           del_char(false);
           // If there are combining characters and 'delcombine' is set
diff --git a/src/nvim/ex_cmds.c b/src/nvim/ex_cmds.c
index 6ac73527ee..1b6861f750 100644
--- a/src/nvim/ex_cmds.c
+++ b/src/nvim/ex_cmds.c
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ void do_ascii(exarg_T *eap)
       IObuff[iobuff_len++] = ' ';
     }
     IObuff[iobuff_len++] = '<';
-    if (utf_iscomposing(c)) {
+    if (utf_iscomposing_first(c)) {
       IObuff[iobuff_len++] = ' ';  // Draw composing char on top of a space.
     }
     iobuff_len += (size_t)utf_char2bytes(c, IObuff + iobuff_len);
diff --git a/src/nvim/ex_getln.c b/src/nvim/ex_getln.c
index 8a34e03d91..722a857f03 100644
--- a/src/nvim/ex_getln.c
+++ b/src/nvim/ex_getln.c
@@ -2118,7 +2118,7 @@ static int command_line_handle_key(CommandLineState *s)
     s->do_abbr = false;                   // don't do abbreviation now
     ccline.special_char = NUL;
     // may need to remove ^ when composing char was typed
-    if (utf_iscomposing(s->c) && !cmd_silent) {
+    if (utf_iscomposing_first(s->c) && !cmd_silent) {
       if (ui_has(kUICmdline)) {
         // TODO(bfredl): why not make unputcmdline also work with true?
         unputcmdline();
@@ -3585,7 +3585,9 @@ void put_on_cmdline(const char *str, int len, bool redraw)
     // backup to the character before it.  There could be two of them.
     int i = 0;
     int c = utf_ptr2char(ccline.cmdbuff + ccline.cmdpos);
-    while (ccline.cmdpos > 0 && utf_iscomposing(c)) {
+    // TODO(bfredl): this can be corrected/simplified as utf_head_off implements the
+    // correct grapheme cluster breaks
+    while (ccline.cmdpos > 0 && utf_iscomposing_legacy(c)) {
       i = utf_head_off(ccline.cmdbuff, ccline.cmdbuff + ccline.cmdpos - 1) + 1;
       ccline.cmdpos -= i;
       len += i;
diff --git a/src/nvim/grid.c b/src/nvim/grid.c
index 56246bf001..acb336c725 100644
--- a/src/nvim/grid.c
+++ b/src/nvim/grid.c
@@ -186,6 +186,24 @@ size_t schar_len(schar_T sc)
   }
 }
 
+int schar_cells(schar_T sc)
+{
+  // hot path
+#ifdef ORDER_BIG_ENDIAN
+  if (!(sc & 0x80FFFFFF)) {
+    return 1;
+  }
+#else
+  if (sc < 0x80) {
+    return 1;
+  }
+#endif
+
+  char sc_buf[MAX_SCHAR_SIZE];
+  schar_get(sc_buf, sc);
+  return utf_ptr2cells(sc_buf);
+}
+
 /// gets first raw UTF-8 byte of an schar
 static char schar_get_first_byte(schar_T sc)
 {
@@ -428,14 +446,19 @@ int grid_line_puts(int col, const char *text, int textlen, int attr)
   const int max_col = grid_line_maxcol;
   while (col < max_col && (len < 0 || (int)(ptr - text) < len) && *ptr != NUL) {
     // check if this is the first byte of a multibyte
-    int mbyte_blen = len > 0
-                     ? utfc_ptr2len_len(ptr, (int)((text + len) - ptr))
-                     : utfc_ptr2len(ptr);
+    int mbyte_blen;
+    if (len >= 0) {
+      int maxlen = (int)((text + len) - ptr);
+      mbyte_blen = utfc_ptr2len_len(ptr, maxlen);
+      if (mbyte_blen > maxlen) {
+        mbyte_blen = 1;
+      }
+    } else {
+      mbyte_blen = utfc_ptr2len(ptr);
+    }
     int firstc;
-    schar_T schar = len >= 0
-                    ? utfc_ptr2schar_len(ptr, (int)((text + len) - ptr), &firstc)
-                    : utfc_ptr2schar(ptr, &firstc);
-    int mbyte_cells = utf_char2cells(firstc);
+    schar_T schar = utfc_ptrlen2schar(ptr, mbyte_blen, &firstc);
+    int mbyte_cells = utf_ptr2cells_len(ptr, mbyte_blen);
     if (mbyte_cells > 2 || schar == 0) {
       mbyte_cells = 1;
       schar = schar_from_char(0xFFFD);
diff --git a/src/nvim/mbyte.c b/src/nvim/mbyte.c
index 0c1b537f3a..666a904fc5 100644
--- a/src/nvim/mbyte.c
+++ b/src/nvim/mbyte.c
@@ -511,20 +511,30 @@ int utf_char2cells(int c)
 
 /// Return the number of display cells character at "*p" occupies.
 /// This doesn't take care of unprintable characters, use ptr2cells() for that.
-int utf_ptr2cells(const char *p)
+int utf_ptr2cells(const char *p_in)
 {
+  const uint8_t *p = (const uint8_t *)p_in;
   // Need to convert to a character number.
-  if ((uint8_t)(*p) >= 0x80) {
-    int c = utf_ptr2char(p);
+  if ((*p) >= 0x80) {
+    int len = utf8len_tab[*p];
+    int32_t c = utf_ptr2CharInfo_impl(p, (uintptr_t)len);
     // An illegal byte is displayed as <xx>.
-    if (utf_ptr2len(p) == 1 || c == NUL) {
+    if (c <= 0) {
       return 4;
     }
     // If the char is ASCII it must be an overlong sequence.
     if (c < 0x80) {
       return char2cells(c);
     }
-    return utf_char2cells(c);
+    int cells = utf_char2cells(c);
+    if (cells == 1 && p_emoji
+        && intable(emoji_all, ARRAY_SIZE(emoji_all), c)) {
+      int c2 = utf_ptr2char(p_in + len);
+      if (c2 == 0xFE0F) {
+        return 2;  // emoji presentation
+      }
+    }
+    return cells;
   }
   return 1;
 }
@@ -603,7 +613,8 @@ int utf_ptr2cells_len(const char *p, int size)
 {
   // Need to convert to a wide character.
   if (size > 0 && (uint8_t)(*p) >= 0x80) {
-    if (utf_ptr2len_len(p, size) < utf8len_tab[(uint8_t)(*p)]) {
+    int len = utf_ptr2len_len(p, size);
+    if (len < utf8len_tab[(uint8_t)(*p)]) {
       return 1;        // truncated
     }
     int c = utf_ptr2char(p);
@@ -615,7 +626,16 @@ int utf_ptr2cells_len(const char *p, int size)
     if (c < 0x80) {
       return char2cells(c);
     }
-    return utf_char2cells(c);
+    int cells = utf_char2cells(c);
+    if (cells == 1 && p_emoji && size > len
+        && intable(emoji_all, ARRAY_SIZE(emoji_all), c)
+        && utf_ptr2len_len(p + len, size - len) == utf8len_tab[(uint8_t)p[len]]) {
+      int c2 = utf_ptr2char(p + len);
+      if (c2 == 0xFE0F) {
+        return 2;  // emoji presentation
+      }
+    }
+    return cells;
   }
   return 1;
 }
@@ -648,8 +668,8 @@ size_t mb_string2cells_len(const char *str, size_t size)
   size_t clen = 0;
 
   for (const char *p = str; *p != NUL && p < str + size;
-       p += utfc_ptr2len_len(p, (int)size + (int)(p - str))) {
-    clen += (size_t)utf_ptr2cells(p);
+       p += utfc_ptr2len_len(p, (int)size - (int)(p - str))) {
+    clen += (size_t)utf_ptr2cells_len(p, (int)size - (int)(p - str));
   }
 
   return clen;
@@ -793,29 +813,48 @@ int mb_cptr2char_adv(const char **pp)
   return c;
 }
 
-/// Check if the character pointed to by "p2" is a composing character when it
-/// comes after "p1".  For Arabic sometimes "ab" is replaced with "c", which
-/// behaves like a composing character.
-bool utf_composinglike(const char *p1, const char *p2)
+/// When "c" is the first char of a string, determine if it needs to be prefixed
+/// by a space byte to be drawn correctly, and not merge with the space left of
+/// the string.
+bool utf_iscomposing_first(int c)
 {
-  int c2 = utf_ptr2char(p2);
-  if (utf_iscomposing(c2)) {
-    return true;
-  }
-  if (!arabic_maycombine(c2)) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  return arabic_combine(utf_ptr2char(p1), c2);
+  return c >= 128 && !utf8proc_grapheme_break(' ', c);
 }
 
-/// Check if the next character is a composing character when it
-/// comes after the first. For Arabic sometimes "ab" is replaced with "c", which
-/// behaves like a composing character.
-/// returns false for negative values
-bool utf_char_composinglike(int32_t const first, int32_t const next)
-  FUNC_ATTR_PURE
+/// Check if the character pointed to by "p2" is a composing character when it
+/// comes after "p1".
+///
+/// We use the definition in UAX#29 as implemented by utf8proc with the following
+/// exceptions:
+///
+/// - ASCII chars always begin a new cluster. This is a long assumed invariant
+///   in the code base and very useful for performance (we can exit early for ASCII
+///   all over the place, branch predictor go brrr in ASCII-only text).
+///   As of Unicode 15.1 this will only break BOUNDCLASS_UREPEND followed by ASCII,
+///   which should be exceedingly rare (these PREPEND chars are expected to be
+///   followed by multibyte chars within the same script family)
+///
+/// - When 'arabicshape' is active, some pairs of arabic letters "ab" is replaced with
+///   "c" taking one single cell, which behaves like a cluster.
+///
+/// @param "state" should be set to GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT before first call
+///        it is allowed to be null, but will then not handle some longer
+///        sequences, like ZWJ based emoji
+bool utf_composinglike(const char *p1, const char *p2, GraphemeState *state)
+  FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ARG(1, 2)
 {
-  return utf_iscomposing(next) || arabic_combine(first, next);
+  if ((uint8_t)(*p2) < 128) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  int first = utf_ptr2char(p1);
+  int second = utf_ptr2char(p2);
+
+  if (!utf8proc_grapheme_break_stateful(first, second, state)) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  return arabic_combine(first, second);
 }
 
 /// Get the screen char at the beginning of a string
@@ -834,7 +873,7 @@ schar_T utfc_ptr2schar(const char *p, int *firstc)
 {
   int c = utf_ptr2char(p);
   *firstc = c;  // NOT optional, you are gonna need it
-  bool first_compose = utf_iscomposing(c);
+  bool first_compose = utf_iscomposing_first(c);
   size_t maxlen = MAX_SCHAR_SIZE - 1 - first_compose;
   size_t len = (size_t)utfc_ptr2len_len(p, (int)maxlen);
 
@@ -845,16 +884,13 @@ schar_T utfc_ptr2schar(const char *p, int *firstc)
   return schar_from_buf_first(p, len, first_compose);
 }
 
-/// Get the screen char at the beginning of a string with length
+/// Get the screen char from a char with a known length
 ///
 /// Like utfc_ptr2schar but use no more than p[maxlen].
-schar_T utfc_ptr2schar_len(const char *p, int maxlen, int *firstc)
+schar_T utfc_ptrlen2schar(const char *p, int len, int *firstc)
   FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ALL
 {
-  assert(maxlen > 0);
-
-  size_t len = (size_t)utf_ptr2len_len(p, maxlen);
-  if (len > (size_t)maxlen || (len == 1 && (uint8_t)(*p) >= 0x80) || len == 0) {
+  if ((len == 1 && (uint8_t)(*p) >= 0x80) || len == 0) {
     // invalid or truncated sequence
     *firstc = (uint8_t)(*p);
     return 0;
@@ -862,11 +898,13 @@ schar_T utfc_ptr2schar_len(const char *p, int maxlen, int *firstc)
 
   int c = utf_ptr2char(p);
   *firstc = c;
-  bool first_compose = utf_iscomposing(c);
-  maxlen = MIN(maxlen, MAX_SCHAR_SIZE - 1 - first_compose);
-  len = (size_t)utfc_ptr2len_len(p, maxlen);
+  bool first_compose = utf_iscomposing_first(c);
+  int maxlen = MAX_SCHAR_SIZE - 1 - first_compose;
+  if (len > maxlen) {
+    len = utfc_ptr2len_len(p, maxlen);
+  }
 
-  return schar_from_buf_first(p, len, first_compose);
+  return schar_from_buf_first(p, (size_t)len, first_compose);
 }
 
 /// Caller must ensure there is space for `first_compose`
@@ -964,8 +1002,9 @@ int utfc_ptr2len(const char *const p)
 
   // Check for composing characters.
   int prevlen = 0;
+  GraphemeState state = GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT;
   while (true) {
-    if ((uint8_t)p[len] < 0x80 || !utf_composinglike(p + prevlen, p + len)) {
+    if ((uint8_t)p[len] < 0x80 || !utf_composinglike(p + prevlen, p + len, &state)) {
       return len;
     }
 
@@ -996,9 +1035,10 @@ int utfc_ptr2len_len(const char *p, int size)
     return 1;
   }
 
-  // Check for composing characters.  We can handle only the first six, but
+  // Check for composing characters.  We can only display a limited amount, but
   // skip all of them (otherwise the cursor would get stuck).
   int prevlen = 0;
+  GraphemeState state = GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT;
   while (len < size) {
     if ((uint8_t)p[len] < 0x80) {
       break;
@@ -1011,7 +1051,7 @@ int utfc_ptr2len_len(const char *p, int size)
       break;
     }
 
-    if (!utf_composinglike(p + prevlen, p + len)) {
+    if (!utf_composinglike(p + prevlen, p + len, &state)) {
       break;
     }
 
@@ -1084,11 +1124,18 @@ int utf_char2bytes(const int c, char *const buf)
   }
 }
 
-/// Return true if "c" is a composing UTF-8 character.
-/// This means it will be drawn on top of the preceding character.
+/// Return true if "c" is a legacy composing UTF-8 character.
+///
+/// This is deprecated in favour of utf_composinglike() which uses the modern
+/// stateful algorithm to determine grapheme clusters. Still available
+/// to support some legacy code which hasn't been refactored yet.
+///
+/// To check if a char would combine with a preceeding space, use
+/// utf_iscomposing_first() instead.
+///
 /// Based on code from Markus Kuhn.
 /// Returns false for negative values.
-bool utf_iscomposing(int c)
+bool utf_iscomposing_legacy(int c)
 {
   return intable(combining, ARRAY_SIZE(combining), c);
 }
@@ -1278,8 +1325,9 @@ int utf_class_tab(const int c, const uint64_t *const chartab)
   return 2;
 }
 
-bool utf_ambiguous_width(int c)
+bool utf_ambiguous_width(const char *p)
 {
+  int c = utf_ptr2char(p);
   return c >= 0x80 && (intable(ambiguous, ARRAY_SIZE(ambiguous), c)
                        || intable(emoji_all, ARRAY_SIZE(emoji_all), c));
 }
@@ -1666,6 +1714,26 @@ void show_utf8(void)
   msg(IObuff, 0);
 }
 
+/// @return true if boundclass bc always starts a new cluster regardless of what's before
+/// false negatives are allowed (perf cost, not correctness)
+static bool always_break(int bc)
+{
+  return (bc == UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_CONTROL);
+}
+
+/// @return true if bc2 always starts a cluster after bc1
+/// false negatives are allowed (perf cost, not correctness)
+static bool always_break_two(int bc1, int bc2)
+{
+  // don't check for UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_CONTROL for bc2 as it either has been checked by
+  // "always_break" on first iteration or when it was bc1 in the previous iteration
+  return ((bc1 != UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_PREPEND && bc2 == UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_OTHER)
+          || (bc1 >= UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_CR && bc1 <= UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_CONTROL)
+          || (bc2 == UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_EXTENDED_PICTOGRAPHIC
+              && (bc1 == UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_OTHER
+                  || bc1 == UTF8PROC_BOUNDCLASS_EXTENDED_PICTOGRAPHIC)));
+}
+
 /// Return offset from "p" to the start of a character, including composing characters.
 /// "base" must be the start of the string, which must be NUL terminated.
 /// If "p" points to the NUL at the end of the string return 0.
@@ -1679,50 +1747,108 @@ int utf_head_off(const char *base_in, const char *p_in)
   const uint8_t *base = (uint8_t *)base_in;
   const uint8_t *p = (uint8_t *)p_in;
 
-  // Skip backwards over trailing bytes: 10xx.xxxx
-  // Skip backwards again if on a composing char.
-  const uint8_t *q;
-  for (q = p;; q--) {
-    // Move s to the last byte of this char.
-    const uint8_t *s;
-    for (s = q; (s[1] & 0xc0) == 0x80; s++) {}
+  const uint8_t *start = p;
 
-    // Move q to the first byte of this char.
-    while (q > base && (*q & 0xc0) == 0x80) {
-      q--;
-    }
-    // Check for illegal sequence. Do allow an illegal byte after where we
-    // started.
-    int len = utf8len_tab[*q];
-    if (len != (int)(s - q + 1) && len != (int)(p - q + 1)) {
-      return 0;
+  // move start to the first byte of this codepoint
+  // might stop on a continuation byte if overlong, handled by utf_ptr2CharInfo_impl
+  while (start > base && (*start & 0xc0) == 0x80 && (p - start) < 6) {
+    start--;
+  }
+
+  uint8_t cur_len = utf8len_tab[*start];
+  int32_t cur_code = utf_ptr2CharInfo_impl(start, (uintptr_t)cur_len);
+  if (cur_code < 0) {
+    return 0;  // p must be part of an illegal sequence
+  }
+  const uint8_t * const safe_end = start + cur_len;
+
+  int cur_bc = utf8proc_get_property(cur_code)->boundclass;
+  if (always_break(cur_bc)) {
+    return (int)(p - start);
+  }
+
+  // backtrack to find the start of a cluster. we might go too far, checked in the next loop
+  const uint8_t *cur_pos = start;
+  const uint8_t *const p_start = start;
+
+  if (start == base) {
+    return (int)(p - start);
+  }
+
+  start--;
+  while (*start >= 0x80) {  // stop on ascii, we are done
+    while (start > base && (*start & 0xc0) == 0x80 && (cur_pos - start) < 6) {
+      start--;
     }
 
-    if (q <= base) {
+    int32_t prev_code = utf_ptr2CharInfo_impl(start, (uintptr_t)utf8len_tab[*start]);
+    if (prev_code < 0) {
+      start = cur_pos;  // start at valid sequence after invalid bytes
       break;
     }
 
-    int c = utf_ptr2char((char *)q);
-    if (utf_iscomposing(c)) {
-      continue;
+    int prev_bc = utf8proc_get_property(prev_code)->boundclass;
+    if (always_break_two(prev_bc, cur_bc) && !arabic_combine(prev_code, cur_code)) {
+      start = cur_pos;  // prev_code cannot be a part of this cluster
+      break;
+    } else if (start == base) {
+      break;
     }
+    cur_pos = start;
+    cur_bc = prev_bc;
+    cur_code = prev_code;
 
-    if (arabic_maycombine(c)) {
-      // Advance to get a sneak-peak at the next char
-      const uint8_t *j = q;
-      j--;
-      // Move j to the first byte of this char.
-      while (j > base && (*j & 0xc0) == 0x80) {
-        j--;
-      }
-      if (arabic_combine(utf_ptr2char((char *)j), c)) {
-        continue;
-      }
-    }
-    break;
+    start--;
   }
 
-  return (int)(p - q);
+  // hot path: we are already on the first codepoint of a sequence
+  if (start == p_start) {
+    return (int)(p - start);
+  }
+
+  const uint8_t *q = start;
+  while (q < p) {
+    // don't need to find end of cluster. once we reached the codepoint of p, we are done
+    int len = utfc_ptr2len_len((const char *)q, (int)(safe_end - q));
+
+    if (q + len > p) {
+      return (int)(p - q);
+    }
+
+    q += len;
+  }
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/// Assumes caller already handles ascii. see `utfc_next`
+StrCharInfo utfc_next_impl(StrCharInfo cur)
+{
+  int32_t prev_code = cur.chr.value;
+  uint8_t *next = (uint8_t *)(cur.ptr + cur.chr.len);
+  GraphemeState state = GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT;
+  assert(*next >= 0x80);
+
+  while (true) {
+    uint8_t const next_len = utf8len_tab[*next];
+    int32_t const next_code = utf_ptr2CharInfo_impl(next, (uintptr_t)next_len);
+    if (utf8proc_grapheme_break_stateful(prev_code, next_code, &state)
+        && !arabic_combine(prev_code, next_code)) {
+      return (StrCharInfo){
+        .ptr = (char *)next,
+        .chr = (CharInfo){ .value = next_code, .len = (next_code < 0 ? 1 : next_len) },
+      };
+    }
+
+    prev_code = next_code;
+    next += next_len;
+    if (EXPECT(*next < 0x80U, true)) {
+      return (StrCharInfo){
+        .ptr = (char *)next,
+        .chr = (CharInfo){ .value = *next, .len = 1 },
+      };
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 // Whether space is NOT allowed before/after 'c'.
@@ -2681,7 +2807,7 @@ char *string_convert_ext(const vimconv_T *const vcp, char *ptr, size_t *lenp, si
             c = 0x100; break;                   // not in latin9
           }
         }
-        if (!utf_iscomposing(c)) {              // skip composing chars
+        if (!utf_iscomposing_legacy(c)) {  // skip composing chars
           if (c < 0x100) {
             *d++ = (uint8_t)c;
           } else if (vcp->vc_fail) {
diff --git a/src/nvim/mbyte.h b/src/nvim/mbyte.h
index 6cbfbcbc3c..2da051fca2 100644
--- a/src/nvim/mbyte.h
+++ b/src/nvim/mbyte.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>  // IWYU pragma: keep
+#include <utf8proc.h>
 #include <uv.h>  // IWYU pragma: keep
 
 #include "nvim/cmdexpand_defs.h"  // IWYU pragma: keep
@@ -11,6 +12,9 @@
 #include "nvim/mbyte_defs.h"  // IWYU pragma: keep
 #include "nvim/types_defs.h"  // IWYU pragma: keep
 
+typedef utf8proc_int32_t GraphemeState;
+#define GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT 0
+
 #ifdef INCLUDE_GENERATED_DECLARATIONS
 # include "mbyte.h.generated.h"
 # include "mbyte.h.inline.generated.h"
@@ -92,28 +96,16 @@ static inline CharInfo utf_ptr2CharInfo(char const *const p_in)
 static inline StrCharInfo utfc_next(StrCharInfo cur)
   FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ALL FUNC_ATTR_ALWAYS_INLINE FUNC_ATTR_PURE
 {
-  int32_t prev_code = cur.chr.value;
+  // handle ASCII case inline
   uint8_t *next = (uint8_t *)(cur.ptr + cur.chr.len);
-
-  while (true) {
-    if (EXPECT(*next < 0x80U, true)) {
-      return (StrCharInfo){
-        .ptr = (char *)next,
-        .chr = (CharInfo){ .value = *next, .len = 1 },
-      };
-    }
-    uint8_t const next_len = utf8len_tab[*next];
-    int32_t const next_code = utf_ptr2CharInfo_impl(next, (uintptr_t)next_len);
-    if (!utf_char_composinglike(prev_code, next_code)) {
-      return (StrCharInfo){
-        .ptr = (char *)next,
-        .chr = (CharInfo){ .value = next_code, .len = (next_code < 0 ? 1 : next_len) },
-      };
-    }
-
-    prev_code = next_code;
-    next += next_len;
+  if (EXPECT(*next < 0x80U, true)) {
+    return (StrCharInfo){
+      .ptr = (char *)next,
+      .chr = (CharInfo){ .value = *next, .len = 1 },
+    };
   }
+
+  return utfc_next_impl(cur);
 }
 
 static inline StrCharInfo utf_ptr2StrCharInfo(char *ptr)
diff --git a/src/nvim/message.c b/src/nvim/message.c
index 53e5511a5a..79e6bc8be7 100644
--- a/src/nvim/message.c
+++ b/src/nvim/message.c
@@ -446,9 +446,7 @@ void trunc_string(const char *s, char *buf, int room_in, int buflen)
   // Last part: End of the string.
   half = i = (int)strlen(s);
   while (true) {
-    do {
-      half = half - utf_head_off(s, s + half - 1) - 1;
-    } while (half > 0 && utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char(s + half)));
+    half = half - utf_head_off(s, s + half - 1) - 1;
     n = ptr2cells(s + half);
     if (len + n > room || half == 0) {
       break;
diff --git a/src/nvim/normal.c b/src/nvim/normal.c
index f44a64af21..f3bdea9a85 100644
--- a/src/nvim/normal.c
+++ b/src/nvim/normal.c
@@ -837,7 +837,10 @@ static void normal_get_additional_char(NormalState *s)
       while ((s->c = vpeekc()) > 0
              && (s->c >= 0x100 || MB_BYTE2LEN(vpeekc()) > 1)) {
         s->c = plain_vgetc();
-        if (!utf_iscomposing(s->c)) {
+        // TODO(bfredl): only allowing up to two composing chars is cringe af.
+        // Could reuse/abuse schar_T to at least allow us to input anything we are able
+        // to display and use the stateful utf8proc algorithm like utf_composinglike
+        if (!utf_iscomposing_legacy(s->c)) {
           vungetc(s->c);                   // it wasn't, put it back
           break;
         } else if (s->ca.ncharC1 == 0) {
diff --git a/src/nvim/options.lua b/src/nvim/options.lua
index 3612a80fb8..1c17b0fc9f 100644
--- a/src/nvim/options.lua
+++ b/src/nvim/options.lua
@@ -2326,9 +2326,12 @@ return {
       desc = [=[
         When on all Unicode emoji characters are considered to be full width.
         This excludes "text emoji" characters, which are normally displayed as
-        single width.  Unfortunately there is no good specification for this
-        and it has been determined on trial-and-error basis.  Use the
-        |setcellwidths()| function to change the behavior.
+        single width. However, such "text emoji" are treated as full-width
+        emoji if they are followed by the U+FE0F variant selector.
+
+        Unfortunately there is no good specification for this and it has been
+        determined on trial-and-error basis.  Use the |setcellwidths()|
+        function to change the behavior.
       ]=],
       full_name = 'emoji',
       redraw = { 'all_windows', 'ui_option' },
diff --git a/src/nvim/plines.c b/src/nvim/plines.c
index e51e9bf8c3..408fe26bf3 100644
--- a/src/nvim/plines.c
+++ b/src/nvim/plines.c
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ CharSize charsize_regular(CharsizeArg *csarg, char *const cur, colnr_T const vco
   } else if (cur_char < 0) {
     size = kInvalidByteCells;
   } else {
-    size = char2cells(cur_char);
+    size = ptr2cells(cur);
     is_doublewidth = size == 2 && cur_char > 0x80;
   }
 
@@ -337,8 +337,8 @@ CharSize charsize_regular(CharsizeArg *csarg, char *const cur, colnr_T const vco
 ///
 /// @see charsize_regular
 /// @see charsize_fast
-static inline CharSize charsize_fast_impl(win_T *const wp, bool use_tabstop, colnr_T const vcol,
-                                          int32_t const cur_char)
+static inline CharSize charsize_fast_impl(win_T *const wp, const char *cur, bool use_tabstop,
+                                          colnr_T const vcol, int32_t const cur_char)
   FUNC_ATTR_PURE FUNC_ATTR_ALWAYS_INLINE
 {
   // A tab gets expanded, depending on the current column
@@ -352,7 +352,11 @@ static inline CharSize charsize_fast_impl(win_T *const wp, bool use_tabstop, col
     if (cur_char < 0) {
       width = kInvalidByteCells;
     } else {
-      width = char2cells(cur_char);
+      // TODO(bfredl): perf: often cur_char is enough at this point to determine width.
+      // we likely want a specialized version of utf_ptr2StrCharInfo also determining
+      // the ptr2cells width at the same time without any extra decoding. (also applies
+      // to charsize_regular and charsize_nowrap)
+      width = ptr2cells(cur);
     }
 
     // If a double-width char doesn't fit at the end of a line, it wraps to the next line,
@@ -371,23 +375,23 @@ static inline CharSize charsize_fast_impl(win_T *const wp, bool use_tabstop, col
 /// Can be used if CSType is kCharsizeFast.
 ///
 /// @see charsize_regular
-CharSize charsize_fast(CharsizeArg *csarg, colnr_T const vcol, int32_t const cur_char)
+CharSize charsize_fast(CharsizeArg *csarg, const char *cur, colnr_T vcol, int32_t cur_char)
   FUNC_ATTR_PURE
 {
-  return charsize_fast_impl(csarg->win, csarg->use_tabstop, vcol, cur_char);
+  return charsize_fast_impl(csarg->win, cur, csarg->use_tabstop, vcol, cur_char);
 }
 
 /// Get the number of cells taken up on the screen at given virtual column.
 ///
 /// @see win_chartabsize()
-int charsize_nowrap(buf_T *buf, bool use_tabstop, colnr_T vcol, int32_t cur_char)
+int charsize_nowrap(buf_T *buf, const char *cur, bool use_tabstop, colnr_T vcol, int32_t cur_char)
 {
   if (cur_char == TAB && use_tabstop) {
     return tabstop_padding(vcol, buf->b_p_ts, buf->b_p_vts_array);
   } else if (cur_char < 0) {
     return kInvalidByteCells;
   } else {
-    return char2cells(cur_char);
+    return ptr2cells(cur);
   }
 }
 
@@ -467,7 +471,7 @@ int linesize_fast(CharsizeArg const *const csarg, int vcol_arg, colnr_T const le
 
   StrCharInfo ci = utf_ptr2StrCharInfo(line);
   while (ci.ptr - line < len && *ci.ptr != NUL) {
-    vcol += charsize_fast_impl(wp, use_tabstop, vcol_arg, ci.chr.value).width;
+    vcol += charsize_fast_impl(wp, ci.ptr, use_tabstop, vcol_arg, ci.chr.value).width;
     ci = utfc_next(ci);
     if (vcol > MAXCOL) {
       vcol_arg = MAXCOL;
@@ -530,7 +534,7 @@ void getvcol(win_T *wp, pos_T *pos, colnr_T *start, colnr_T *cursor, colnr_T *en
         char_size = (CharSize){ .width = 1 };
         break;
       }
-      char_size = charsize_fast_impl(wp, use_tabstop, vcol, ci.chr.value);
+      char_size = charsize_fast_impl(wp, ci.ptr, use_tabstop, vcol, ci.chr.value);
       StrCharInfo const next = utfc_next(ci);
       if (next.ptr - line > end_col) {
         break;
@@ -627,7 +631,7 @@ void getvvcol(win_T *wp, pos_T *pos, colnr_T *start, colnr_T *cursor, colnr_T *e
     if (pos->col < ml_get_buf_len(wp->w_buffer, pos->lnum)) {
       int c = utf_ptr2char(ptr + pos->col);
       if ((c != TAB) && vim_isprintc(c)) {
-        endadd = (colnr_T)(char2cells(c) - 1);
+        endadd = (colnr_T)(ptr2cells(ptr + pos->col) - 1);
         if (coladd > endadd) {
           // past end of line
           endadd = 0;
@@ -824,7 +828,7 @@ int plines_win_col(win_T *wp, linenr_T lnum, long column)
   if (cstype == kCharsizeFast) {
     bool const use_tabstop = csarg.use_tabstop;
     while (*ci.ptr != NUL && --column >= 0) {
-      vcol += charsize_fast_impl(wp, use_tabstop, vcol, ci.chr.value).width;
+      vcol += charsize_fast_impl(wp, ci.ptr, use_tabstop, vcol, ci.chr.value).width;
       ci = utfc_next(ci);
     }
   } else {
diff --git a/src/nvim/plines.h b/src/nvim/plines.h
index 7128e37237..50310b8ce1 100644
--- a/src/nvim/plines.h
+++ b/src/nvim/plines.h
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ static inline CharSize win_charsize(CSType cstype, int vcol, char *ptr, int32_t
   FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ALL FUNC_ATTR_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT FUNC_ATTR_ALWAYS_INLINE
 {
   if (cstype == kCharsizeFast) {
-    return charsize_fast(csarg, vcol, chr);
+    return charsize_fast(csarg, ptr, vcol, chr);
   } else {
     return charsize_regular(csarg, ptr, vcol, chr);
   }
diff --git a/src/nvim/regexp.c b/src/nvim/regexp.c
index 7dbbb19545..c91c112c3c 100644
--- a/src/nvim/regexp.c
+++ b/src/nvim/regexp.c
@@ -3031,7 +3031,7 @@ static bool use_multibytecode(int c)
 {
   return utf_char2len(c) > 1
          && (re_multi_type(peekchr()) != NOT_MULTI
-             || utf_iscomposing(c));
+             || utf_iscomposing_legacy(c));
 }
 
 // Emit (if appropriate) a byte of code
@@ -4326,7 +4326,7 @@ static uint8_t *regatom(int *flagp)
     }
     // When '.' is followed by a composing char ignore the dot, so that
     // the composing char is matched here.
-    if (c == Magic('.') && utf_iscomposing(peekchr())) {
+    if (c == Magic('.') && utf_iscomposing_legacy(peekchr())) {
       c = getchr();
       goto do_multibyte;
     }
@@ -5001,9 +5001,10 @@ do_multibyte:
           int l;
 
           // Need to get composing character too.
+          GraphemeState state = GRAPHEME_STATE_INIT;
           while (true) {
             l = utf_ptr2len(regparse);
-            if (!utf_composinglike(regparse, regparse + l)) {
+            if (!utf_composinglike(regparse, regparse + l, &state)) {
               break;
             }
             regmbc(utf_ptr2char(regparse));
@@ -6569,7 +6570,7 @@ static bool regmatch(uint8_t *scan, const proftime_T *tm, int *timed_out)
             // Check for following composing character, unless %C
             // follows (skips over all composing chars).
             if (status != RA_NOMATCH
-                && utf_composinglike((char *)rex.input, (char *)rex.input + len)
+                && utf_composinglike((char *)rex.input, (char *)rex.input + len, NULL)
                 && !rex.reg_icombine
                 && OP(next) != RE_COMPOSING) {
               // raaron: This code makes a composing character get
@@ -6624,14 +6625,14 @@ static bool regmatch(uint8_t *scan, const proftime_T *tm, int *timed_out)
             break;
           }
           const int opndc = utf_ptr2char((char *)opnd);
-          if (utf_iscomposing(opndc)) {
+          if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(opndc)) {
             // When only a composing char is given match at any
             // position where that composing char appears.
             status = RA_NOMATCH;
             for (i = 0; rex.input[i] != NUL;
                  i += utf_ptr2len((char *)rex.input + i)) {
               const int inpc = utf_ptr2char((char *)rex.input + i);
-              if (!utf_iscomposing(inpc)) {
+              if (!utf_iscomposing_legacy(inpc)) {
                 if (i > 0) {
                   break;
                 }
@@ -6654,7 +6655,7 @@ static bool regmatch(uint8_t *scan, const proftime_T *tm, int *timed_out)
 
         case RE_COMPOSING:
           // Skip composing characters.
-          while (utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char((char *)rex.input))) {
+          while (utf_iscomposing_legacy(utf_ptr2char((char *)rex.input))) {
             rex.input += utf_ptr2len((char *)rex.input);
           }
           break;
@@ -10070,7 +10071,7 @@ static int nfa_regatom(void)
     }
     // When '.' is followed by a composing char ignore the dot, so that
     // the composing char is matched here.
-    if (c == Magic('.') && utf_iscomposing(peekchr())) {
+    if (c == Magic('.') && utf_iscomposing_legacy(peekchr())) {
       old_regparse = (uint8_t *)regparse;
       c = getchr();
       goto nfa_do_multibyte;
@@ -10705,7 +10706,7 @@ collection:
 nfa_do_multibyte:
     // plen is length of current char with composing chars
     if (utf_char2len(c) != (plen = utfc_ptr2len((char *)old_regparse))
-        || utf_iscomposing(c)) {
+        || utf_iscomposing_legacy(c)) {
       int i = 0;
 
       // A base character plus composing characters, or just one
@@ -14033,7 +14034,7 @@ static int find_match_text(colnr_T *startcol, int regstart, uint8_t *match_text)
     }
     if (match
         // check that no composing char follows
-        && !utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char((char *)s2))) {
+        && !utf_iscomposing_legacy(utf_ptr2char((char *)s2))) {
       cleanup_subexpr();
       if (REG_MULTI) {
         rex.reg_startpos[0].lnum = rex.lnum;
@@ -14278,7 +14279,7 @@ static int nfa_regmatch(nfa_regprog_T *prog, nfa_state_T *start, regsubs_T *subm
         // is not really a match.
         if (!rex.reg_icombine
             && rex.input != rex.line
-            && utf_iscomposing(curc)) {
+            && utf_iscomposing_legacy(curc)) {
           break;
         }
         nfa_match = true;
@@ -14622,7 +14623,7 @@ static int nfa_regmatch(nfa_regprog_T *prog, nfa_state_T *start, regsubs_T *subm
 
         sta = t->state->out;
         len = 0;
-        if (utf_iscomposing(sta->c)) {
+        if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(sta->c)) {
           // Only match composing character(s), ignore base
           // character.  Used for ".{composing}" and "{composing}"
           // (no preceding character).
@@ -14724,7 +14725,7 @@ static int nfa_regmatch(nfa_regprog_T *prog, nfa_state_T *start, regsubs_T *subm
             int j;
 
             sta = t->state->out->out;
-            if (utf_iscomposing(sta->c)) {
+            if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(sta->c)) {
               // Only match composing character(s), ignore base
               // character.  Used for ".{composing}" and "{composing}"
               // (no preceding character).
@@ -14846,7 +14847,7 @@ static int nfa_regmatch(nfa_regprog_T *prog, nfa_state_T *start, regsubs_T *subm
       case NFA_ANY_COMPOSING:
         // On a composing character skip over it.  Otherwise do
         // nothing.  Always matches.
-        if (utf_iscomposing(curc)) {
+        if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(curc)) {
           add_off = clen;
         } else {
           add_here = true;
diff --git a/src/nvim/search.c b/src/nvim/search.c
index 9e00664d86..ff6e135df1 100644
--- a/src/nvim/search.c
+++ b/src/nvim/search.c
@@ -1260,7 +1260,7 @@ int do_search(oparg_T *oap, int dirc, int search_delim, char *pat, size_t patlen
       // empty for the search_stat feature.
       if (!cmd_silent) {
         msgbuf[0] = (char)dirc;
-        if (utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char(p))) {
+        if (utf_iscomposing_first(utf_ptr2char(p))) {
           // Use a space to draw the composing char on.
           msgbuf[1] = ' ';
           memmove(msgbuf + 2, p, plen);
diff --git a/src/nvim/sign.c b/src/nvim/sign.c
index 9b2516ed83..b4ba7833e9 100644
--- a/src/nvim/sign.c
+++ b/src/nvim/sign.c
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ int init_sign_text(sign_T *sp, schar_T *sign_text, char *text)
     if (!vim_isprintc(c)) {
       break;
     }
-    int width = utf_char2cells(c);
+    int width = utf_ptr2cells(s);
     if (width == 2) {
       sign_text[cells + 1] = 0;
     }
diff --git a/src/nvim/spellsuggest.c b/src/nvim/spellsuggest.c
index d6053a533e..b37f01e769 100644
--- a/src/nvim/spellsuggest.c
+++ b/src/nvim/spellsuggest.c
@@ -1792,10 +1792,8 @@ static void suggest_trie_walk(suginfo_T *su, langp_T *lp, char *fword, bool soun
               // For changing a composing character adjust
               // the score from SCORE_SUBST to
               // SCORE_SUBCOMP.
-              if (utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char(tword + sp->ts_twordlen
-                                               - sp->ts_tcharlen))
-                  && utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char(fword
-                                                  + sp->ts_fcharstart))) {
+              if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(utf_ptr2char(tword + sp->ts_twordlen - sp->ts_tcharlen))
+                  && utf_iscomposing_legacy(utf_ptr2char(fword + sp->ts_fcharstart))) {
                 sp->ts_score -= SCORE_SUBST - SCORE_SUBCOMP;
               } else if (!soundfold
                          && slang->sl_has_map
@@ -1811,7 +1809,7 @@ static void suggest_trie_walk(suginfo_T *su, langp_T *lp, char *fword, bool soun
                        && sp->ts_twordlen > sp->ts_tcharlen) {
               p = tword + sp->ts_twordlen - sp->ts_tcharlen;
               c = utf_ptr2char(p);
-              if (utf_iscomposing(c)) {
+              if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(c)) {
                 // Inserting a composing char doesn't
                 // count that much.
                 sp->ts_score -= SCORE_INS - SCORE_INSCOMP;
@@ -1876,7 +1874,7 @@ static void suggest_trie_walk(suginfo_T *su, langp_T *lp, char *fword, bool soun
         c = utf_ptr2char(fword + sp->ts_fidx);
         stack[depth].ts_fidx =
           (uint8_t)(stack[depth].ts_fidx + utfc_ptr2len(fword + sp->ts_fidx));
-        if (utf_iscomposing(c)) {
+        if (utf_iscomposing_legacy(c)) {
           stack[depth].ts_score -= SCORE_DEL - SCORE_DELCOMP;
         } else if (c == utf_ptr2char(fword + stack[depth].ts_fidx)) {
           stack[depth].ts_score -= SCORE_DEL - SCORE_DELDUP;
diff --git a/src/nvim/textformat.c b/src/nvim/textformat.c
index 96907362dd..30c7d0ee92 100644
--- a/src/nvim/textformat.c
+++ b/src/nvim/textformat.c
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ static bool did_add_space = false;  ///< auto_format() added an extra space
                                     ///< under the cursor
 
 #define WHITECHAR(cc) (ascii_iswhite(cc) \
-                       && !utf_iscomposing(utf_ptr2char((char *)get_cursor_pos_ptr() + 1)))
+                       && !utf_iscomposing_first(utf_ptr2char((char *)get_cursor_pos_ptr() + 1)))
 
 /// Return true if format option 'x' is in effect.
 /// Take care of no formatting when 'paste' is set.
diff --git a/src/nvim/tui/tui.c b/src/nvim/tui/tui.c
index 1866a4a592..7e1068ed56 100644
--- a/src/nvim/tui/tui.c
+++ b/src/nvim/tui/tui.c
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ struct TUIData {
   bool set_cursor_color_as_str;
   bool cursor_color_changed;
   bool is_starting;
+  bool did_set_grapheme_cluster_mode;
   FILE *screenshot;
   cursorentry_T cursor_shapes[SHAPE_IDX_COUNT];
   HlAttrs clear_attrs;
@@ -220,6 +221,7 @@ static void tui_set_term_mode(TUIData *tui, TermMode mode, bool set)
 void tui_handle_term_mode(TUIData *tui, TermMode mode, TermModeState state)
   FUNC_ATTR_NONNULL_ALL
 {
+  bool is_set = false;
   switch (state) {
   case kTermModeNotRecognized:
   case kTermModePermanentlySet:
@@ -228,6 +230,8 @@ void tui_handle_term_mode(TUIData *tui, TermMode mode, TermModeState state)
     // then there is nothing to do
     break;
   case kTermModeSet:
+    is_set = true;
+    FALLTHROUGH;
   case kTermModeReset:
     // The terminal supports changing the given mode
     switch (mode) {
@@ -240,6 +244,12 @@ void tui_handle_term_mode(TUIData *tui, TermMode mode, TermModeState state)
       signal_watcher_stop(&tui->winch_handle);
       tui_set_term_mode(tui, mode, true);
       break;
+    case kTermModeGraphemeClusters:
+      if (!is_set) {
+        tui_set_term_mode(tui, mode, true);
+        tui->did_set_grapheme_cluster_mode = true;
+      }
+      break;
     }
   }
 }
@@ -434,6 +444,7 @@ static void terminfo_start(TUIData *tui)
   if (!nsterm) {
     tui_request_term_mode(tui, kTermModeSynchronizedOutput);
     tui_request_term_mode(tui, kTermModeResizeEvents);
+    tui_request_term_mode(tui, kTermModeGraphemeClusters);
   }
 
   // Don't use DECRQSS in screen or tmux, as they behave strangely when receiving it.
@@ -494,7 +505,9 @@ static void terminfo_stop(TUIData *tui)
 
   // Disable resize events
   tui_set_term_mode(tui, kTermModeResizeEvents, false);
-
+  if (tui->did_set_grapheme_cluster_mode) {
+    tui_set_term_mode(tui, kTermModeGraphemeClusters, false);
+  }
   // May restore old title before exiting alternate screen.
   tui_set_title(tui, NULL_STRING);
   if (ui_client_exit_status == 0) {
@@ -1010,7 +1023,7 @@ static void print_cell_at_pos(TUIData *tui, int row, int col, UCell *cell, bool
   char buf[MAX_SCHAR_SIZE];
   schar_get(buf, cell->data);
   int c = utf_ptr2char(buf);
-  bool is_ambiwidth = utf_ambiguous_width(c);
+  bool is_ambiwidth = utf_ambiguous_width(buf);
   if (is_doublewidth && (is_ambiwidth || utf_char2cells(c) == 1)) {
     // If the server used setcellwidths() to treat a single-width char as double-width,
     // it needs to be treated like an ambiguous-width char.
diff --git a/src/nvim/tui/tui_defs.h b/src/nvim/tui/tui_defs.h
index 46913e07a2..bd99d6b0ad 100644
--- a/src/nvim/tui/tui_defs.h
+++ b/src/nvim/tui/tui_defs.h
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ typedef struct TUIData TUIData;
 
 typedef enum {
   kTermModeSynchronizedOutput = 2026,
+  kTermModeGraphemeClusters = 2027,
   kTermModeResizeEvents = 2048,
 } TermMode;
 
diff --git a/test/functional/api/vim_spec.lua b/test/functional/api/vim_spec.lua
index 4210b7ecf0..074d3ac0a3 100644
--- a/test/functional/api/vim_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/api/vim_spec.lua
@@ -1435,6 +1435,28 @@ describe('API', function()
     it('cannot handle NULs', function()
       eq(0, api.nvim_strwidth('\0abc'))
     end)
+
+    it('can handle emoji with variant selectors and ZWJ', function()
+      local selector = '❤️'
+      eq(2, fn.strchars(selector))
+      eq(1, fn.strcharlen(selector))
+      eq(2, api.nvim_strwidth(selector))
+
+      local no_selector = '❤'
+      eq(1, fn.strchars(no_selector))
+      eq(1, fn.strcharlen(no_selector))
+      eq(1, api.nvim_strwidth(no_selector))
+
+      local selector_zwj_selector = '🏳️‍⚧️'
+      eq(5, fn.strchars(selector_zwj_selector))
+      eq(1, fn.strcharlen(selector_zwj_selector))
+      eq(2, api.nvim_strwidth(selector_zwj_selector))
+
+      local emoji_zwj_emoji = '🧑‍🌾'
+      eq(3, fn.strchars(emoji_zwj_emoji))
+      eq(1, fn.strcharlen(emoji_zwj_emoji))
+      eq(2, api.nvim_strwidth(emoji_zwj_emoji))
+    end)
   end)
 
   describe('nvim_get_current_line, nvim_set_current_line', function()
diff --git a/test/functional/ui/decorations_spec.lua b/test/functional/ui/decorations_spec.lua
index 1709819575..61a5e1d6f7 100644
--- a/test/functional/ui/decorations_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/ui/decorations_spec.lua
@@ -5620,6 +5620,27 @@ l5
       ]]
     })
   end)
+
+  it('supports emoji as signs', function()
+    insert(example_test3)
+    feed 'gg'
+    api.nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, ns, 1, 0, {sign_text='🧑‍🌾'})
+    -- VS16 can change width of character
+    api.nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, ns, 2, 0, {sign_text='❤️'})
+    api.nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, ns, 3, 0, {sign_text='❤'})
+    api.nvim_buf_set_extmark(0, ns, 4, 0, {sign_text='❤x'})
+    screen:expect([[
+      {7:  }^l1                                              |
+      🧑‍🌾l2                                              |
+      ❤️l3                                              |
+      ❤ l4                                              |
+      ❤xl5                                              |
+      {7:  }                                                |
+      {1:~                                                 }|*3
+                                                        |
+    ]])
+    eq("Invalid 'sign_text'", pcall_err(api.nvim_buf_set_extmark, 0, ns, 5, 0, {sign_text='❤️x'}))
+  end)
 end)
 
 describe('decorations: virt_text', function()
diff --git a/test/functional/ui/messages_spec.lua b/test/functional/ui/messages_spec.lua
index 07192800e5..036b5ceefc 100644
--- a/test/functional/ui/messages_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/ui/messages_spec.lua
@@ -1436,6 +1436,41 @@ vimComment     xxx match /\s"[^\-:.%#=*].*$/ms=s+1,lc=1  excludenl contains=@vim
     }
   end)
 
+  it('supports nvim_echo messages with emoji', function()
+    -- stylua: ignore
+    async_meths.nvim_echo(
+      { { 'wow, 🏳️‍⚧️🧑‍🌾❤️😂🏴‍☠️\nvariant ❤️ one\nvariant ❤ two' } }, true, {}
+    )
+
+    screen:expect([[
+                                                                  |
+      {1:~                                                           }|
+      {3:                                                            }|
+      wow, 🏳️‍⚧️🧑‍🌾❤️😂🏴‍☠️                                             |
+      variant ❤️ one                                              |
+      variant ❤ two                                               |
+      {6:Press ENTER or type command to continue}^                     |
+    ]])
+
+    feed '<cr>'
+    screen:expect([[
+      ^                                                            |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*5
+                                                                  |
+    ]])
+
+    feed ':messages<cr>'
+    screen:expect([[
+                                                                  |
+      {1:~                                                           }|
+      {3:                                                            }|
+      wow, 🏳️‍⚧️🧑‍🌾❤️😂🏴‍☠️                                             |
+      variant ❤️ one                                              |
+      variant ❤ two                                               |
+      {6:Press ENTER or type command to continue}^                     |
+    ]])
+  end)
+
   it('prints lines in Ex mode correctly with a burst of carriage returns #19341', function()
     command('set number')
     api.nvim_buf_set_lines(0, 0, 0, true, { 'aaa', 'bbb', 'ccc' })
diff --git a/test/functional/ui/multibyte_spec.lua b/test/functional/ui/multibyte_spec.lua
index dc25a09d0d..f16f750ea1 100644
--- a/test/functional/ui/multibyte_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/ui/multibyte_spec.lua
@@ -296,6 +296,86 @@ describe('multibyte rendering', function()
     ]],
     }
   end)
+
+  it('supports emoji with variant selectors and ZWJ', function()
+    command('set ruler')
+    insert('🏳️‍⚧️')
+    screen:expect([[
+      ^🏳️‍⚧️                                                          |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*4
+                                                1,1           All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('a word<esc>')
+    screen:expect([[
+      🏳️‍⚧️ wor^d                                                     |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*4
+                                                1,21-7        All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('0')
+    screen:expect([[
+      ^🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*4
+                                                1,1           All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('l')
+    screen:expect([[
+        🏳️‍⚧️^ word                                                     |
+        {1:~                                                           }|*4
+                                                  1,17-3        All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('h')
+    screen:expect([[
+      ^🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*4
+                                                1,1           All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('o❤️ variant selected<esc>')
+    screen:expect([[
+      🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      ❤️ variant selecte^d                                         |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*3
+                                                2,23-19       All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('0')
+    screen:expect([[
+      🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      ^❤️ variant selected                                         |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*3
+                                                2,1           All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('l')
+    screen:expect([[
+      🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      ❤️^ variant selected                                         |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*3
+                                                2,7-3         All |
+    ]])
+
+    feed('h')
+    screen:expect([[
+      🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      ^❤️ variant selected                                         |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*3
+                                                2,1           All |
+    ]])
+
+    -- without selector: single width (note column 18 and not 19)
+    feed('o❤ variant selected<esc>')
+    screen:expect([[
+      🏳️‍⚧️ word                                                     |
+      ❤️ variant selected                                         |
+      ❤ variant selecte^d                                          |
+      {1:~                                                           }|*2
+                                                3,20-18       All |
+    ]])
+  end)
 end)
 
 describe('multibyte rendering: statusline', function()
@@ -348,11 +428,12 @@ describe('multibyte rendering: statusline', function()
   it('non-printable followed by MAX_MCO unicode combination points', function()
     command('set statusline=Ÿ̸⃯ᷰ⃐⃧⃝')
     -- U+9F + U+1DF0 + U+20EF + U+0338 + U+20D0 + U+20E7 + U+20DD
+    -- TODO: not ideal, better with plain ">" and then space+combining
     screen:expect([[
-    ^                                        |
-    {1:~                                       }|
-    {3:<9f><1df0><20ef><0338><20d0><20e7><20dd>}|
-                                            |
+      ^                                        |
+      {1:~                                       }|
+      {3:<9f≯⃯ᷰ⃐⃧⃝                                    }|
+                                              |
     ]])
   end)
 
@@ -368,9 +449,20 @@ describe('multibyte rendering: statusline', function()
     }
   end)
 
-  it('unprintable chars in filename with default stl', function()
+  it('emoji with ZWJ in filename with default stl', function()
     command('file 🧑‍💻')
-    -- TODO: this is wrong but avoids a crash
+    screen:expect {
+      grid = [[
+      ^                                        |
+      {1:~                                       }|
+      {3:🧑‍💻                                      }|
+                                              |
+    ]],
+    }
+  end)
+
+  it('unprintable chars in filename with default stl', function()
+    command('file 🧑​💻')
     screen:expect {
       grid = [[
       ^                                        |
@@ -381,15 +473,27 @@ describe('multibyte rendering: statusline', function()
     }
   end)
 
-  it('unprintable chars in filename with custom stl', function()
+  it('emoji with ZWJ in filename with custom stl', function()
     command('set statusline=xx%#ErrorMsg#%f%##yy')
     command('file 🧑‍💻')
-    -- TODO: this is also wrong but also avoids a crash
     screen:expect {
       grid = [[
       ^                                        |
       {1:~                                       }|
-      {3:xx}{9:🧑<200d>💻}{3:yy                          }|
+      {3:xx}{9:🧑‍💻}{3:yy                                  }|
+                                              |
+    ]],
+    }
+  end)
+
+  it('unprintable chars in filename with custom stl', function()
+    command('set statusline=xx%#ErrorMsg#%f%##yy')
+    command('file 🧑​💻')
+    screen:expect {
+      grid = [[
+      ^                                        |
+      {1:~                                       }|
+      {3:xx}{9:🧑<200b>💻}{3:yy                          }|
                                               |
     ]],
     }
diff --git a/test/old/testdir/test_functions.vim b/test/old/testdir/test_functions.vim
index 7047a62017..ffe7f3fb39 100644
--- a/test/old/testdir/test_functions.vim
+++ b/test/old/testdir/test_functions.vim
@@ -3663,7 +3663,7 @@ func Test_string_reverse()
     call assert_equal('', reverse(v:_null_string))
     for [s1, s2] in [['', ''], ['a', 'a'], ['ab', 'ba'], ['abc', 'cba'],
                    \ ['abcd', 'dcba'], ['«-«-»-»', '»-»-«-«'],
-                   \ ['🇦', '🇦'], ['🇦🇧', '🇧🇦'], ['🇦🇧🇨', '🇨🇧🇦'],
+                   \ ['🇦', '🇦'], ['🇦🇧', '🇦🇧'], ['🇦🇧🇨', '🇨🇦🇧'],
                    \ ['🇦«🇧-🇨»🇩', '🇩»🇨-🇧«🇦']]
       call assert_equal(s2, reverse(s1))
     endfor
diff --git a/test/old/testdir/test_normal.vim b/test/old/testdir/test_normal.vim
index 8088b1fc57..3ebc9a69a4 100644
--- a/test/old/testdir/test_normal.vim
+++ b/test/old/testdir/test_normal.vim
@@ -3897,9 +3897,9 @@ func Test_normal_count_after_operator()
   bw!
 endfunc
 
-func Test_normal_gj_on_extra_wide_char()
+func Test_normal_gj_on_6_cell_wide_unprintable_char()
   new | 25vsp
-  let text='1 foooooooo ar e  ins‍zwe1 foooooooo ins‍zwei' .
+  let text='1 foooooooo ar e  ins​zwe1 foooooooo ins​zwei' .
          \ ' i drei vier fünf sechs sieben acht un zehn elf zwöfl' .
          \ ' dreizehn v ierzehn fünfzehn'
   put =text
diff --git a/test/unit/mbyte_spec.lua b/test/unit/mbyte_spec.lua
index 8fcc67d20b..787a8862ae 100644
--- a/test/unit/mbyte_spec.lua
+++ b/test/unit/mbyte_spec.lua
@@ -3,8 +3,15 @@ local itp = t.gen_itp(it)
 
 local ffi = t.ffi
 local eq = t.eq
+local to_cstr = t.to_cstr
+local ok = t.ok
 
-local lib = t.cimport('./src/nvim/mbyte.h', './src/nvim/charset.h', './src/nvim/grid.h')
+local lib = t.cimport(
+  './src/nvim/mbyte.h',
+  './src/nvim/charset.h',
+  './src/nvim/grid.h',
+  './src/nvim/option_vars.h'
+)
 
 describe('mbyte', function()
   -- Convert from bytes to string
@@ -45,12 +52,21 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
     end)
   end
 
-  describe('utfc_ptr2schar_len', function()
+  describe('utfc_ptr2schar', function()
     local function test_seq(seq)
       local firstc = ffi.new('int[1]')
       local buf = ffi.new('char[32]')
-      lib.schar_get(buf, lib.utfc_ptr2schar_len(to_string(seq), #seq, firstc))
-      return { ffi.string(buf), firstc[0] }
+      lib.schar_get(buf, lib.utfc_ptr2schar(to_string(seq), firstc))
+      local str = ffi.string(buf)
+      if 1 > 2 then -- for debugging
+        local tabel = {}
+        for i = 1, #str do
+          table.insert(tabel, string.format('0x%02x', string.byte(str, i)))
+        end
+        print('{ ' .. table.concat(tabel, ', ') .. ' }')
+        io.stdout:flush()
+      end
+      return { str, firstc[0] }
     end
 
     local function byte(val)
@@ -88,7 +104,9 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
       eq(byte(0x7f), test_seq { 0x7f, 0xc2, 0x80 })
 
       -- Combining character is U+0300
-      eq({ '\x7f\xcc\x80', 0x7f }, test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80 })
+      eq({ '\x29\xcc\x80', 0x29 }, test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80 })
+      -- invalid start byte for combining
+      eq({ '\x7f', 0x7f }, test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80 })
 
       -- No UTF-8 sequence
       eq({ '', 0xc2 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x7f, 0xcc })
@@ -102,18 +120,21 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
     itp('4-byte sequences', function()
       -- No following combining character
       eq(byte(0x7f), test_seq { 0x7f, 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80 })
+      eq(byte(0x29), test_seq { 0x29, 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80 })
       -- No second UTF-8 character
       eq(byte(0x7f), test_seq { 0x7f, 0xc2, 0xcc, 0x80 })
 
       -- Combining character U+0300
-      eq({ '\x7f\xcc\x80', 0x7f }, test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc })
+      eq({ '\x29\xcc\x80', 0x29 }, test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc })
 
       -- No UTF-8 sequence
       eq({ '', 0xc2 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80 })
       -- No following UTF-8 character
       eq({ '\xc2\x80', 0x80 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0xcc })
       -- Combining character U+0301
-      eq({ '\xc2\x80\xcc\x81', 0x80 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81 })
+      eq({ '\xc2\xbc\xcc\x81', 0xbc }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0xbc, 0xcc, 0x81 })
+      -- U+0080 : not a valid start char
+      eq({ '\xc2\x80', 0x80 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81 })
 
       -- One UTF-8 character
       eq({ '\xf4\x80\x80\x80', 0x100000 }, test_seq { 0xf4, 0x80, 0x80, 0x80 })
@@ -126,36 +147,36 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
       eq(byte(0x7f), test_seq { 0x7f, 0xc2, 0xcc, 0x80, 0x80 })
 
       -- Combining character U+0300
-      eq({ '\x7f\xcc\x80', 0x7f }, test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x00 })
+      eq({ '\x29\xcc\x80', 0x29 }, test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x00 })
 
       -- Combining characters U+0300 and U+0301
-      eq({ '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81', 0x7f }, test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81 })
+      eq({ '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81', 0x29 }, test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81 })
       -- Combining characters U+0300, U+0301, U+0302
       eq(
-        { '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82', 0x7f },
-        test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82 }
+        { '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82', 0x29 },
+        test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82 }
       )
       -- Combining characters U+0300, U+0301, U+0302, U+0303
       eq(
-        { '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83', 0x7f },
-        test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xcc, 0x83 }
+        { '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83', 0x29 },
+        test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xcc, 0x83 }
       )
       -- Combining characters U+0300, U+0301, U+0302, U+0303, U+0304
       eq(
-        { '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83\xcc\x84', 0x7f },
-        test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xcc, 0x83, 0xcc, 0x84 }
+        { '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83\xcc\x84', 0x29 },
+        test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xcc, 0x83, 0xcc, 0x84 }
       )
       -- Combining characters U+0300, U+0301, U+0302, U+0303, U+0304, U+0305
       eq(
-        { '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83\xcc\x84\xcc\x85', 0x7f },
-        test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xcc, 0x83, 0xcc, 0x84, 0xcc, 0x85 }
+        { '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83\xcc\x84\xcc\x85', 0x29 },
+        test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xcc, 0x83, 0xcc, 0x84, 0xcc, 0x85 }
       )
 
       -- Combining characters U+0300, U+0301, U+0302, U+0303, U+0304, U+0305, U+0306
       eq(
-        { '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83\xcc\x84\xcc\x85\xcc\x86', 0x7f },
+        { '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82\xcc\x83\xcc\x84\xcc\x85\xcc\x86', 0x29 },
         test_seq {
-          0x7f,
+          0x29,
           0xcc,
           0x80,
           0xcc,
@@ -175,18 +196,18 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
 
       -- Only three following combining characters U+0300, U+0301, U+0302
       eq(
-        { '\x7f\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82', 0x7f },
-        test_seq { 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x84, 0xcc, 0x85 }
+        { '\x29\xcc\x80\xcc\x81\xcc\x82', 0x29 },
+        test_seq { 0x29, 0xcc, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc, 0x82, 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x84, 0xcc, 0x85 }
       )
 
       -- No UTF-8 sequence
       eq({ '', 0xc2 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x7f, 0xcc, 0x80, 0x80 })
       -- No following UTF-8 character
-      eq({ '\xc2\x80', 0x80 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0xcc, 0x80 })
+      eq({ '\xc2\xbc', 0xbc }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0xbc, 0xcc, 0xcc, 0x80 })
       -- Combining character U+0301
-      eq({ '\xc2\x80\xcc\x81', 0x80 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0x7f })
+      eq({ '\xc2\xbc\xcc\x81', 0xbc }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0xbc, 0xcc, 0x81, 0x7f })
       -- Combining character U+0301
-      eq({ '\xc2\x80\xcc\x81', 0x80 }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0x80, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc })
+      eq({ '\xc2\xbc\xcc\x81', 0xbc }, test_seq { 0xc2, 0xbc, 0xcc, 0x81, 0xcc })
 
       -- One UTF-8 character
       eq({ '\xf4\x80\x80\x80', 0x100000 }, test_seq { 0xf4, 0x80, 0x80, 0x80, 0x7f })
@@ -205,8 +226,6 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
   end)
 
   describe('utf_cp_bounds_len', function()
-    local to_cstr = t.to_cstr
-
     local tests = {
       {
         name = 'for valid string',
@@ -273,4 +292,52 @@ describe('mbyte', function()
       eq(expected_offsets, { b = b_offsets, e = e_offsets })
     end)
   end)
+
+  itp('utf_head_off', function()
+    local function check(str, expected_glyphs)
+      local len = #str
+      local cstr = to_cstr(str)
+      local breaks = { 0 } -- SOT
+      local pos = 0
+      local mb_glyphs = {}
+      while pos < len do
+        local clen = lib.utfc_ptr2len(cstr + pos)
+        ok(clen > 0) -- otherwise we get stuck
+        if clen > 1 then
+          table.insert(mb_glyphs, string.sub(str, pos + 1, pos + clen))
+        end
+        pos = pos + clen
+        table.insert(breaks, pos)
+      end
+      eq(breaks[#breaks], len) -- include EOT as break
+      -- we could also send in breaks, but this is more human readable
+      eq(mb_glyphs, expected_glyphs)
+
+      for i = 1, #breaks - 1 do
+        local start, next = breaks[i], breaks[i + 1]
+
+        for p = start, next - 1 do
+          eq(p - start, lib.utf_head_off(cstr, cstr + p))
+        end
+      end
+      eq(0, lib.utf_head_off(cstr, cstr + len)) -- NUL byte is safe
+    end
+    -- stylua doesn't like ZWJ chars..
+    -- stylua: ignore start
+    check('hej och hå 🧑‍🌾!', { 'å', '🧑‍🌾' })
+    -- emoji only (various kinds of combinations, use g8 to see them)
+    check("🏳️‍⚧️🧑‍🌾❤️😂🏴‍☠️", {"🏳️‍⚧️", "🧑‍🌾", "❤️", "😂", "🏴‍☠️"})
+    check('🏳️‍⚧️xy🧑‍🌾\r❤️😂å🏴‍☠️€', { '🏳️‍⚧️', '🧑‍🌾', '❤️', '😂', 'å', '🏴‍☠️', '€' })
+
+    check('🇦🅱️ 🇦🇽 🇦🇨🇦 🇲🇽🇹🇱',{'🇦', '🅱️', '🇦🇽', '🇦🇨', '🇦', '🇲🇽', '🇹🇱'})
+    check('🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿', {'🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿', '🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿'})
+
+    lib.p_arshape = true -- default
+    check('سلام', { 'س', 'لا', 'م' })
+    lib.p_arshape = false
+    check('سلام', { 'س', 'ل', 'ا', 'م' })
+
+    check('L̓̉̑̒̌̚ơ̗̌̒̄̀ŕ̈̈̎̐̕è̇̅̄̄̐m̖̟̟̅̄̚', {'L̓̉̑̒̌̚', 'ơ̗̌̒̄̀', 'ŕ̈̈̎̐̕', 'è̇̅̄̄̐', 'm̖̟̟̅̄̚'})
+    -- stylua: ignore end
+  end)
 end)