diff --git a/wocky/wocky-xmpp-reader.c b/wocky/wocky-xmpp-reader.c
index 17cbbda..6ade517 100644
--- a/wocky/wocky-xmpp-reader.c
+++ b/wocky/wocky-xmpp-reader.c
@@ -530,6 +530,13 @@ handle_regular_element (
       const gchar *attr_value = (const gchar *) attributes[i+3];
       gsize value_len = attributes[i+4] - attributes[i+3];
 
+      if (!g_utf8_validate (attr_value, value_len, NULL))
+        {
+          DEBUG ("NON-VALID UTF8");
+          continue;
+        }
+
+
       if (!wocky_strdiff (attr_prefix, "xml") &&
           !wocky_strdiff (attr_name, "lang"))
         {
@@ -581,7 +588,7 @@ _characters (void *user_data, const xmlChar *ch, int len)
   WockyXmppReader *self = WOCKY_XMPP_READER (user_data);
   WockyXmppReaderPrivate *priv = self->priv;
 
-  if (priv->node != NULL)
+  if (priv->node != NULL && g_utf8_validate ((const gchar *)ch, len, NULL))
     {
       wocky_node_append_content_n (priv->node, (const gchar *)ch,
           (gsize)len);