diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 61bc2a34942..deeee531824 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@
 /test-list
 /test-log
 /test-login
+/test-login-shared
 /test-loopback
 /test-mmap-cache
 /test-ns
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@
 /test-udev
 /test-unit-file
 /test-unit-name
+/test-utf8
 /test-util
 /test-watchdog
 /timedatectl
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index af12fa5912d..49c1a1d3c47 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1123,6 +1123,7 @@ tests += \
 	test-strxcpyx \
 	test-unit-name \
 	test-unit-file \
+	test-utf8 \
 	test-util \
 	test-date \
 	test-sleep \
@@ -1225,6 +1226,15 @@ test_unit_file_CFLAGS = \
 test_unit_file_LDADD = \
 	libsystemd-core.la
 
+test_utf8_SOURCES = \
+	src/test/test-utf8.c
+
+test_utf8_CFLAGS = \
+	$(AM_CFLAGS)
+
+test_utf8_LDADD = \
+	libsystemd-shared.la
+
 test_util_SOURCES = \
 	src/test/test-util.c
 
diff --git a/src/libudev/libudev-util.c b/src/libudev/libudev-util.c
index 714dc50ae96..d54430cad09 100644
--- a/src/libudev/libudev-util.c
+++ b/src/libudev/libudev-util.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 #include "libudev.h"
 #include "libudev-private.h"
+#include "utf8.h"
 
 /**
  * SECTION:libudev-util
@@ -306,129 +307,6 @@ void util_remove_trailing_chars(char *path, char c)
                 path[--len] = '\0';
 }
 
-/* count of characters used to encode one unicode char */
-static int utf8_encoded_expected_len(const char *str)
-{
-        unsigned char c = (unsigned char)str[0];
-
-        if (c < 0x80)
-                return 1;
-        if ((c & 0xe0) == 0xc0)
-                return 2;
-        if ((c & 0xf0) == 0xe0)
-                return 3;
-        if ((c & 0xf8) == 0xf0)
-                return 4;
-        if ((c & 0xfc) == 0xf8)
-                return 5;
-        if ((c & 0xfe) == 0xfc)
-                return 6;
-        return 0;
-}
-
-/* decode one unicode char */
-static int utf8_encoded_to_unichar(const char *str)
-{
-        int unichar;
-        int len;
-        int i;
-
-        len = utf8_encoded_expected_len(str);
-        switch (len) {
-        case 1:
-                return (int)str[0];
-        case 2:
-                unichar = str[0] & 0x1f;
-                break;
-        case 3:
-                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x0f;
-                break;
-        case 4:
-                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x07;
-                break;
-        case 5:
-                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x03;
-                break;
-        case 6:
-                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x01;
-                break;
-        default:
-                return -1;
-        }
-
-        for (i = 1; i < len; i++) {
-                if (((int)str[i] & 0xc0) != 0x80)
-                        return -1;
-                unichar <<= 6;
-                unichar |= (int)str[i] & 0x3f;
-        }
-
-        return unichar;
-}
-
-/* expected size used to encode one unicode char */
-static int utf8_unichar_to_encoded_len(int unichar)
-{
-        if (unichar < 0x80)
-                return 1;
-        if (unichar < 0x800)
-                return 2;
-        if (unichar < 0x10000)
-                return 3;
-        if (unichar < 0x200000)
-                return 4;
-        if (unichar < 0x4000000)
-                return 5;
-        return 6;
-}
-
-/* check if unicode char has a valid numeric range */
-static int utf8_unichar_valid_range(int unichar)
-{
-        if (unichar > 0x10ffff)
-                return 0;
-        if ((unichar & 0xfffff800) == 0xd800)
-                return 0;
-        if ((unichar > 0xfdcf) && (unichar < 0xfdf0))
-                return 0;
-        if ((unichar & 0xffff) == 0xffff)
-                return 0;
-        return 1;
-}
-
-/* validate one encoded unicode char and return its length */
-static int utf8_encoded_valid_unichar(const char *str)
-{
-        int len;
-        int unichar;
-        int i;
-
-        len = utf8_encoded_expected_len(str);
-        if (len == 0)
-                return -1;
-
-        /* ascii is valid */
-        if (len == 1)
-                return 1;
-
-        /* check if expected encoded chars are available */
-        for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
-                if ((str[i] & 0x80) != 0x80)
-                        return -1;
-
-        unichar = utf8_encoded_to_unichar(str);
-
-        /* check if encoded length matches encoded value */
-        if (utf8_unichar_to_encoded_len(unichar) != len)
-                return -1;
-
-        /* check if value has valid range */
-        if (!utf8_unichar_valid_range(unichar))
-                return -1;
-
-        return len;
-}
-
 int util_replace_whitespace(const char *str, char *to, size_t len)
 {
         size_t i, j;
@@ -457,17 +335,6 @@ int util_replace_whitespace(const char *str, char *to, size_t len)
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int is_whitelisted(char c, const char *white)
-{
-        if ((c >= '0' && c <= '9') ||
-            (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') ||
-            (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') ||
-            strchr("#+-.:=@_", c) != NULL ||
-            (white != NULL && strchr(white, c) != NULL))
-                return 1;
-        return 0;
-}
-
 /* allow chars in whitelist, plain ascii, hex-escaping and valid utf8 */
 int util_replace_chars(char *str, const char *white)
 {
@@ -477,7 +344,7 @@ int util_replace_chars(char *str, const char *white)
         while (str[i] != '\0') {
                 int len;
 
-                if (is_whitelisted(str[i], white)) {
+                if (is_utf8_encoding_whitelisted(str[i], white)) {
                         i++;
                         continue;
                 }
@@ -525,39 +392,7 @@ int util_replace_chars(char *str, const char *white)
  **/
 _public_ int udev_util_encode_string(const char *str, char *str_enc, size_t len)
 {
-        size_t i, j;
-
-        if (str == NULL || str_enc == NULL)
-                return -1;
-
-        for (i = 0, j = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) {
-                int seqlen;
-
-                seqlen = utf8_encoded_valid_unichar(&str[i]);
-                if (seqlen > 1) {
-                        if (len-j < (size_t)seqlen)
-                                goto err;
-                        memcpy(&str_enc[j], &str[i], seqlen);
-                        j += seqlen;
-                        i += (seqlen-1);
-                } else if (str[i] == '\\' || !is_whitelisted(str[i], NULL)) {
-                        if (len-j < 4)
-                                goto err;
-                        sprintf(&str_enc[j], "\\x%02x", (unsigned char) str[i]);
-                        j += 4;
-                } else {
-                        if (len-j < 1)
-                                goto err;
-                        str_enc[j] = str[i];
-                        j++;
-                }
-        }
-        if (len-j < 1)
-                goto err;
-        str_enc[j] = '\0';
-        return 0;
-err:
-        return -1;
+        return udev_encode_string(str, str_enc, len);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/shared/utf8.c b/src/shared/utf8.c
index 655cc771d40..1a68394a53c 100644
--- a/src/shared/utf8.c
+++ b/src/shared/utf8.c
@@ -317,3 +317,154 @@ char *utf16_to_utf8(const void *s, size_t length) {
 
         return r;
 }
+
+/* count of characters used to encode one unicode char */
+static int utf8_encoded_expected_len(const char *str) {
+        unsigned char c = (unsigned char)str[0];
+
+        if (c < 0x80)
+                return 1;
+        if ((c & 0xe0) == 0xc0)
+                return 2;
+        if ((c & 0xf0) == 0xe0)
+                return 3;
+        if ((c & 0xf8) == 0xf0)
+                return 4;
+        if ((c & 0xfc) == 0xf8)
+                return 5;
+        if ((c & 0xfe) == 0xfc)
+                return 6;
+        return 0;
+}
+
+/* decode one unicode char */
+static int utf8_encoded_to_unichar(const char *str) {
+        int unichar;
+        int len;
+        int i;
+
+        len = utf8_encoded_expected_len(str);
+        switch (len) {
+        case 1:
+                return (int)str[0];
+        case 2:
+                unichar = str[0] & 0x1f;
+                break;
+        case 3:
+                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x0f;
+                break;
+        case 4:
+                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x07;
+                break;
+        case 5:
+                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x03;
+                break;
+        case 6:
+                unichar = (int)str[0] & 0x01;
+                break;
+        default:
+                return -1;
+        }
+
+        for (i = 1; i < len; i++) {
+                if (((int)str[i] & 0xc0) != 0x80)
+                        return -1;
+                unichar <<= 6;
+                unichar |= (int)str[i] & 0x3f;
+        }
+
+        return unichar;
+}
+
+/* expected size used to encode one unicode char */
+static int utf8_unichar_to_encoded_len(int unichar) {
+        if (unichar < 0x80)
+                return 1;
+        if (unichar < 0x800)
+                return 2;
+        if (unichar < 0x10000)
+                return 3;
+        if (unichar < 0x200000)
+                return 4;
+        if (unichar < 0x4000000)
+                return 5;
+        return 6;
+}
+
+/* validate one encoded unicode char and return its length */
+int utf8_encoded_valid_unichar(const char *str) {
+        int len;
+        int unichar;
+        int i;
+
+        len = utf8_encoded_expected_len(str);
+        if (len == 0)
+                return -1;
+
+        /* ascii is valid */
+        if (len == 1)
+                return 1;
+
+        /* check if expected encoded chars are available */
+        for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+                if ((str[i] & 0x80) != 0x80)
+                        return -1;
+
+        unichar = utf8_encoded_to_unichar(str);
+
+        /* check if encoded length matches encoded value */
+        if (utf8_unichar_to_encoded_len(unichar) != len)
+                return -1;
+
+        /* check if value has valid range */
+        if (!is_unicode_valid(unichar))
+                return -1;
+
+        return len;
+}
+
+int is_utf8_encoding_whitelisted(char c, const char *white) {
+        if ((c >= '0' && c <= '9') ||
+            (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') ||
+            (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') ||
+            strchr("#+-.:=@_", c) != NULL ||
+            (white != NULL && strchr(white, c) != NULL))
+                return 1;
+        return 0;
+}
+
+int udev_encode_string(const char *str, char *str_enc, size_t len) {
+        size_t i, j;
+
+        if (str == NULL || str_enc == NULL)
+                return -1;
+
+        for (i = 0, j = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) {
+                int seqlen;
+
+                seqlen = utf8_encoded_valid_unichar(&str[i]);
+                if (seqlen > 1) {
+                        if (len-j < (size_t)seqlen)
+                                goto err;
+                        memcpy(&str_enc[j], &str[i], seqlen);
+                        j += seqlen;
+                        i += (seqlen-1);
+                } else if (str[i] == '\\' || !is_utf8_encoding_whitelisted(str[i], NULL)) {
+                        if (len-j < 4)
+                                goto err;
+                        sprintf(&str_enc[j], "\\x%02x", (unsigned char) str[i]);
+                        j += 4;
+                } else {
+                        if (len-j < 1)
+                                goto err;
+                        str_enc[j] = str[i];
+                        j++;
+                }
+        }
+        if (len-j < 1)
+                goto err;
+        str_enc[j] = '\0';
+        return 0;
+err:
+        return -1;
+}
diff --git a/src/shared/utf8.h b/src/shared/utf8.h
index f805ea6b590..7a5608c9ee1 100644
--- a/src/shared/utf8.h
+++ b/src/shared/utf8.h
@@ -34,3 +34,7 @@ char *utf8_filter(const char *s);
 char *ascii_filter(const char *s);
 
 char *utf16_to_utf8(const void *s, size_t length);
+
+int utf8_encoded_valid_unichar(const char *str);
+int is_utf8_encoding_whitelisted(char c, const char *white);
+int udev_encode_string(const char *str, char *str_enc, size_t len);
diff --git a/src/test/test-utf8.c b/src/test/test-utf8.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d2b9771f4b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/test-utf8.c
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*-*- Mode: C; c-basic-offset: 8; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*-*/
+
+/***
+  This file is part of systemd.
+
+  Copyright 2013 Dave Reisner
+
+  systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+  under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  systemd is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+  WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+  Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+  along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+***/
+
+
+#include "utf8.h"
+#include "util.h"
+
+/* helpers for test_udev_encode_string */
+static char *do_encode_string(const char *in) {
+        size_t out_len = strlen(in) * 4;
+        char *out = malloc(out_len);
+
+        assert_se(out);
+        assert_se(udev_encode_string(in, out, out_len) >= 0);
+        puts(out);
+
+        return out;
+}
+
+static bool expect_encoded_as(const char *in, const char *expected) {
+        _cleanup_free_ char *encoded = do_encode_string(in);
+        return streq(encoded, expected);
+}
+
+static void test_udev_encode_string(void) {
+        assert_se(expect_encoded_as("systemd sucks", "systemd\\x20sucks"));
+        assert_se(expect_encoded_as("pinkiepie", "pinkiepie"));
+        assert_se(expect_encoded_as("valíd\\ųtf8", "valíd\\x5cųtf8"));
+        assert_se(expect_encoded_as("s/ash/ng", "s\\x2fash\\x2fng"));
+}
+
+static void test_utf8_is_valid(void) {
+        assert_se(utf8_is_valid("ascii is valid unicode"));
+        assert_se(utf8_is_valid("\341\204\242"));
+        assert_se(!utf8_is_valid("\341\204"));
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+        test_utf8_is_valid();
+        test_udev_encode_string();
+}