diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 352959b8e..6bc580df8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@ target_include_directories(notcurses-tester
 )
 target_link_libraries(notcurses-tester
   PRIVATE
+    unistring
     notcurses++
     "${TERMINFO_LIBRARIES}"
 )
diff --git a/src/lib/internal.h b/src/lib/internal.h
index ef51dcbee..2f058aa8d 100644
--- a/src/lib/internal.h
+++ b/src/lib/internal.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ const char* oiio_version(void);
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <termios.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
+#include <unictype.h>
 #include <langinfo.h>
 #include "notcurses/notcurses.h"
 #include "egcpool.h"
@@ -921,6 +922,23 @@ pool_load(egcpool* pool, cell* c, const char* gcluster){
 // increment y by 1 and rotate the framebuffer up one line. x moves to 0.
 void scroll_down(ncplane* n);
 
+static inline bool
+islinebreak(wchar_t wchar){
+  // UC_LINE_SEPARATOR + UC_PARAGRAPH_SEPARATOR
+  if(wchar == L'\n' || wchar == L'\v' || wchar == L'\f'){
+    return true;
+  }
+  const uint32_t mask = UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Zl | UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Zp;
+  return uc_is_general_category_withtable(wchar, mask);
+}
+
+static inline bool
+iswordbreak(wchar_t wchar){
+  const uint32_t mask = UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Z |
+                        UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Zs;
+  return uc_is_general_category_withtable(wchar, mask);
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/lib/layout.c b/src/lib/layout.c
index 1f0213f27..796943fbe 100644
--- a/src/lib/layout.c
+++ b/src/lib/layout.c
@@ -1,22 +1,4 @@
 #include "internal.h"
-#include <unictype.h>
-
-static bool
-islinebreak(wchar_t wchar){
-  // UC_LINE_SEPARATOR + UC_PARAGRAPH_SEPARATOR
-  if(wchar == '\n'){
-    return true;
-  }
-  const uint32_t mask = UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Zl | UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Zp;
-  return uc_is_general_category_withtable(wchar, mask);
-}
-
-static bool
-iswordbreak(wchar_t wchar){
-  const uint32_t mask = UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Z |
-                        UC_CATEGORY_MASK_Zs;
-  return uc_is_general_category_withtable(wchar, mask);
-}
 
 // print the first 'bytes' bytes of 'text' to 'n', using alignment 'align'
 // and requiring 'cols' columns, relative to the current cursor position.
diff --git a/tests/libunistring.cpp b/tests/libunistring.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d85c414db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/libunistring.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#include "main.h"
+#include "internal.h"
+
+// some simple tests to ensure the libunistring we've compiled/linked against
+// behaves as expected.
+
+TEST_CASE("Libunistring") {
+  auto nc_ = testing_notcurses();
+  if(!nc_){
+    return;
+  }
+  ncplane* ncp_ = notcurses_stdplane(nc_);
+  REQUIRE(ncp_);
+
+  SUBCASE("WordbreakChars") {
+    const wchar_t breakers[] = {
+      L'\u0020', // space
+      L'\u2000', // en quad
+      L'\u2001', // em quad
+      L'\u2002', // en quad
+      L'\u2003', // em quad
+      L'\u2004', // three-per-em space
+      0
+    }, *b;
+    for(b = breakers ; *b ; ++b){
+      CHECK(iswordbreak(*b));
+    }
+  }
+
+  SUBCASE("LinebreakChars") {
+    const wchar_t breakers[] = {
+      L'\u000a', // linefeed
+      L'\u000b', // vertical tab
+      L'\u000c', // formfeed
+      0
+    }, *b;
+    for(b = breakers ; *b ; ++b){
+      CHECK(islinebreak(*b));
+    }
+  }
+
+  CHECK(0 == notcurses_stop(nc_));
+
+}