diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwdialogue/keywordsearch.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwdialogue/keywordsearch.hpp
index 8ba3349bc8..0c14ea8f8d 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwdialogue/keywordsearch.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwdialogue/keywordsearch.hpp
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 #include <cctype>
 #include <map>
-#include <limits>
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <vector>
 #include <algorithm>    // std::reverse
@@ -69,18 +68,6 @@ public:
         return false;
     }
 
-    static bool isWhitespaceUTF8(const int utf8Char)
-    {
-        if (utf8Char >= 0 && utf8Char <= static_cast<int>( std::numeric_limits<unsigned char>::max()))
-        {
-            //That function has undefined behavior if the character doesn't fit in unsigned char
-            return std::isspace(utf8Char);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
 
     static bool sortMatches(const Match& left, const Match& right)
     {
@@ -92,16 +79,6 @@ public:
         std::vector<Match> matches;
         for (Point i = beg; i != end; ++i)
         {
-            // check if previous character marked start of new word
-            if (i != beg)
-            {
-                Point prev = i;
-                --prev;
-                if(!isWhitespaceUTF8(*prev))
-                    continue;
-            }
-
-
             // check first character
             typename Entry::childen_t::iterator candidate = mRoot.mChildren.find (Misc::StringUtils::toLower (*i));
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwdialogue/test_keywordsearch.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwdialogue/test_keywordsearch.cpp
index 62b6f67aae..6128c7e5dd 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwdialogue/test_keywordsearch.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwdialogue/test_keywordsearch.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ TEST_F(KeywordSearchTest, keyword_test_utf8_word_begin)
     search.seed("états", 0);
     search.seed("ïrradiés", 0);
     search.seed("ça nous déçois", 0);
-
+    search.seed("ois", 0);
 
     std::string text = "les nations unis ont réunis le monde entier, états units inclus pour parler du problème des gens ïrradiés et ça nous déçois";
 
@@ -86,3 +86,51 @@ TEST_F(KeywordSearchTest, keyword_test_utf8_word_begin)
     EXPECT_EQ (std::string( matches[1].mBeg, matches[1].mEnd) , "ïrradiés");
     EXPECT_EQ (std::string( matches[2].mBeg, matches[2].mEnd) , "ça nous déçois");
 }
+
+TEST_F(KeywordSearchTest, keyword_test_non_alpha_non_whitespace_word_begin)
+{
+    // We make sure that the search works well even if the separator is not a whitespace
+    MWDialogue::KeywordSearch<std::string, int> search;
+    search.seed("Report to caius cosades", 0);
+
+
+
+    std::string text = "I was told to \"Report to caius cosades\"";
+
+    std::vector<MWDialogue::KeywordSearch<std::string, int>::Match> matches;
+    search.highlightKeywords(text.begin(), text.end(), matches);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(matches.size(), 1);
+    EXPECT_EQ(std::string(matches[0].mBeg, matches[0].mEnd), "Report to caius cosades");
+}
+
+TEST_F(KeywordSearchTest, keyword_test_russian_non_ascii_before)
+{
+    // We make sure that the search works well even if the separator is not a whitespace with russian chars
+    MWDialogue::KeywordSearch<std::string, int> search;
+    search.seed("Доложить Каю Косадесу", 0);
+
+    std::string text = "Что? Да. Я Кай Косадес. То есть как это, вам велели «Доложить Каю Косадесу»? О чем вы говорите?";
+
+    std::vector<MWDialogue::KeywordSearch<std::string, int>::Match> matches;
+    search.highlightKeywords(text.begin(), text.end(), matches);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(matches.size(), 1);
+    EXPECT_EQ(std::string(matches[0].mBeg, matches[0].mEnd), "Доложить Каю Косадесу");
+}
+
+TEST_F(KeywordSearchTest, keyword_test_russian_ascii_before)
+{
+    // We make sure that the search works well even if the separator is not a whitespace with russian chars
+    MWDialogue::KeywordSearch<std::string, int> search;
+    search.seed("Доложить Каю Косадесу", 0);
+
+    std::string text = "Что? Да. Я Кай Косадес. То есть как это, вам велели 'Доложить Каю Косадесу'? О чем вы говорите?";
+
+    std::vector<MWDialogue::KeywordSearch<std::string, int>::Match> matches;
+    search.highlightKeywords(text.begin(), text.end(), matches);
+
+    EXPECT_EQ(matches.size(), 1);
+    EXPECT_EQ(std::string(matches[0].mBeg, matches[0].mEnd), "Доложить Каю Косадесу");
+}
+