diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/BlockChange.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/BlockChange.java
index 6e823a0..493e52d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/BlockChange.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/BlockChange.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import de.diddiz.util.BukkitUtils;
 import org.bukkit.Location;
 
 import de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.Config;
+import static de.diddiz.util.LoggingUtil.checkText;
 import org.bukkit.Material;
 
 public class BlockChange implements LookupCacheElement
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ public class BlockChange implements LookupCacheElement
 		this.replaced = replaced;
 		this.type = type;
 		this.data = data;
-		this.signtext = signtext;
+		this.signtext = checkText(signtext);
 		this.ca = ca;
 		this.playerName = actor == null ? null : actor.getName();
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/ChatMessage.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/ChatMessage.java
index a060317..ec5920e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/ChatMessage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/ChatMessage.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package de.diddiz.LogBlock;
 
+import static de.diddiz.util.LoggingUtil.checkText;
 import java.sql.ResultSet;
 import java.sql.SQLException;
 import org.bukkit.Location;
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ public class ChatMessage implements LookupCacheElement
 		id = 0;
 		date = System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000;
 		this.player = player;
-		this.message = message;
+		this.message = checkText(message);
 		this.playerName = player == null ? null : player.getName();
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/LogBlock.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/LogBlock.java
index f7d8687..322eeb1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/LogBlock.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/LogBlock.java
@@ -86,6 +86,13 @@ public class LogBlock extends JavaPlugin
 				noDb = true;
 				return;
 			}
+			final Statement st = conn.createStatement();
+			final ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery("SHOW CHARACTER SET where charset='utf8mb4';");
+			if (rs.next()) {
+				Config.mb4=true;
+				// Allegedly JDBC driver since 2010 hasn't needed this. I did.
+				st.executeQuery("SET NAMES utf8mb4;");
+			}
 			conn.close();
 			if (updater.update())
 				load(this);
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/Updater.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/Updater.java
index 26e9e80..5fadc84 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/Updater.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/Updater.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package de.diddiz.LogBlock;
 
+import de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.Config;
 import de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.WorldConfig;
 import org.bukkit.Bukkit;
 import org.bukkit.configuration.ConfigurationSection;
@@ -208,42 +209,6 @@ class Updater
 			}
 			config.set("version", "1.52");
 		}
-		// Ensure charset for free-text fields is UTF-8
-		// As this may be an expensive operation and the database default may already be UTF-8, check on a table-by-table basis before converting
-		if (config.getString("version").compareTo("1.71") < 0) {
-			getLogger().info("Updating tables to 1.71 ...");
-			final Connection conn = logblock.getConnection();
-			try {
-				conn.setAutoCommit(true);
-				final Statement st = conn.createStatement();
-				if (isLogging(Logging.CHAT)) {
-					final ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery("SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `lb-chat` WHERE field = 'message'");
-					if (rs.next() && !rs.getString("Collation").substring(0,4).equalsIgnoreCase("utf8")) {
-						st.execute("ALTER TABLE `lb-chat` CONVERT TO CHARSET utf8");
-						getLogger().info("Table lb-chat modified");
-					} else {
-						getLogger().info("Table lb-chat already fine, skipping it");
-					}
-				}
-				for (final WorldConfig wcfg : getLoggedWorlds()) {
-					if (wcfg.isLogging(Logging.SIGNTEXT)) {
-						final ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery("SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `"+wcfg.table+"-sign` WHERE field = 'signtext'");
-						if (rs.next() && !rs.getString("Collation").substring(0,4).equalsIgnoreCase("utf8")) {
-							st.execute("ALTER TABLE `"+wcfg.table+"-sign` CONVERT TO CHARSET utf8");
-							getLogger().info("Table "+wcfg.table+"-sign modified");
-						} else {
-							getLogger().info("Table "+wcfg.table+"-sign already fine, skipping it");
-						}
-					}
-				}
-				st.close();
-				conn.close();
-			} catch (final SQLException ex) {
-				Bukkit.getLogger().log(Level.SEVERE, "[Updater] Error: ", ex);
-				return false;
-			}
-			config.set("version", "1.71");
-		}
 		if (config.getString("version").compareTo("1.81") < 0) {
 			getLogger().info("Updating tables to 1.81 ...");
 			final Connection conn = logblock.getConnection();
@@ -342,7 +307,6 @@ class Updater
 			}
 			config.set("version", "1.90");
 		}
-
 			if (config.getString("version").compareTo("1.91") < 0) {
 			getLogger().info("Updating tables to 1.91 ...");
 			final Connection conn = logblock.getConnection();
@@ -375,6 +339,44 @@ class Updater
 				}
 			config.set("version", "1.91");
 		}
+		// Ensure charset for free-text fields is UTF-8, or UTF8-mb4 if possible
+		// As this may be an expensive operation and the database default may already be this, check on a table-by-table basis before converting
+		if (config.getString("version").compareTo("1.92") < 0) {
+			getLogger().info("Updating tables to 1.92 ...");
+			String charset = "utf8";
+			if ( Config.mb4) charset="utf8mb4";
+			final Connection conn = logblock.getConnection();
+			try {
+				conn.setAutoCommit(true);
+				final Statement st = conn.createStatement();
+				if (isLogging(Logging.CHAT)) {
+					final ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery("SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `lb-chat` WHERE field = 'message'");
+					if (rs.next() && !rs.getString("Collation").substring(0,4).equalsIgnoreCase(charset)) {
+						st.execute("ALTER TABLE `lb-chat` CONVERT TO CHARSET " + charset);
+						getLogger().info("Table lb-chat modified");
+					} else {
+						getLogger().info("Table lb-chat already fine, skipping it");
+					}
+				}
+				for (final WorldConfig wcfg : getLoggedWorlds()) {
+					if (wcfg.isLogging(Logging.SIGNTEXT)) {
+						final ResultSet rs = st.executeQuery("SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `"+wcfg.table+"-sign` WHERE field = 'signtext'");
+						if (rs.next() && !rs.getString("Collation").substring(0,4).equalsIgnoreCase(charset)) {
+							st.execute("ALTER TABLE `"+wcfg.table+"-sign` CONVERT TO CHARSET " + charset);
+							getLogger().info("Table "+wcfg.table+"-sign modified");
+						} else {
+							getLogger().info("Table "+wcfg.table+"-sign already fine, skipping it");
+						}
+					}
+				}
+				st.close();
+				conn.close();
+			} catch (final SQLException ex) {
+				Bukkit.getLogger().log(Level.SEVERE, "[Updater] Error: ", ex);
+				return false;
+			}
+			config.set("version", "1.92");
+		}
 		logblock.saveConfig();
 		return true;
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/config/Config.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/config/Config.java
index ff78a69..88812e8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/config/Config.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/LogBlock/config/Config.java
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ public class Config
 	public static SimpleDateFormat formatter;
 	public static boolean safetyIdCheck;
 	public static boolean logEnvironmentalKills;
+	// Not loaded from config - checked at runtime
+	public static boolean mb4 = false;
 
 	public static enum LogKillsLevel
 	{
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/LoggingUtil.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/LoggingUtil.java
index 8dca8be..0b4d67a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/LoggingUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/LoggingUtil.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import de.diddiz.LogBlock.Actor;
 import de.diddiz.LogBlock.Consumer;
 import de.diddiz.LogBlock.Logging;
 import static de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.Config.getWorldConfig;
+import static de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.Config.mb4;
 import de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.WorldConfig;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.bukkit.Location;
@@ -200,4 +201,10 @@ public class LoggingUtil {
 		// Do this down here so that the block is added after blocks sitting on it
 		consumer.queueBlockBreak(actor, origin.getState());
 	}
+	
+	public static String checkText(String text) {
+		if (text==null) return text;
+		if (mb4) return text;
+		return text.replaceAll("[^\\u0000-\\uFFFF]", "?");
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/MySQLConnectionPool.java b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/MySQLConnectionPool.java
index d78af21..a986976 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/MySQLConnectionPool.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/diddiz/util/MySQLConnectionPool.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package de.diddiz.util;
 
+import static de.diddiz.LogBlock.config.Config.mb4;
 import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.sql.Array;
 import java.sql.Blob;
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ public class MySQLConnectionPool implements Closeable
 				throw new SQLException("Failed to validate a brand new connection");
 			}
 			connections.add(conn);
+			if (mb4) conn.createStatement().executeQuery("SET NAMES utf8mb4");
 			return conn;
 		} finally {
 			lock.unlock();
diff --git a/src/main/resources/plugin.yml b/src/main/resources/plugin.yml
index 6fc1756..e143a31 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/plugin.yml
+++ b/src/main/resources/plugin.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: ${project.name}
-version: '1.91'
+version: '1.92'
 author: DiddiZ
 authors: [md_5, ammar2, frymaster]
 website: http://dev.bukkit.org/server-mods/logblock/