diff --git a/src/insdel.c b/src/insdel.c
index aaf5de38217..805200aae56 100644
--- a/src/insdel.c
+++ b/src/insdel.c
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ copy_text (from_addr, to_addr, nbytes,
 	{
 	  int thislen, c;
 	  c = STRING_CHAR_AND_LENGTH (from_addr, bytes_left, thislen);
-	  *to_addr++ = (c & 0177) + 0200;
+	  *to_addr++ = SINGLE_BYTE_CHAR_P (c) ? c : (c & 0177) + 0200;
 	  from_addr += thislen;
 	  bytes_left--;
 	  nchars++;