diff --git a/automation/include/unicode.lua b/automation/include/unicode.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e278214f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/include/unicode.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+--[[
+ Copyright (c) 2007, Niels Martin Hansen, Rodrigo Braz Monteiro
+ All rights reserved.
+
+ Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+ modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
+
+   * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
+     this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+   * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
+     this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
+     and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+   * Neither the name of the Aegisub Group nor the names of its contributors
+     may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
+     without specific prior written permission.
+
+ THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
+ AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
+ IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+ ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
+ LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
+ CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
+ SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
+ INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+ CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+ ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
+ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+]]
+
+-- Unicode (UTF-8) support functions for Aegisub Automation 4 Lua
+-- http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2279.txt
+
+module("unicode")
+
+-- Return the number of bytes occupied by the character starting at the i'th byte in s
+function charwidth(s, i)
+	local b = s:byte(i)
+	if b < 128 then
+		return 1
+	elseif b < 224 then
+		return 2
+	elseif b < 240 then
+		return 3
+	elseif b < 248 then
+		return 4
+	elseif b < 252 then
+		return 5
+	else
+		return 6
+	end
+	-- Actually there are more possibilities, but those aren't really legal
+end
+
+-- Returns an iterator function for iterating over the characters in s
+function chars(s)
+	local curchar, i = 0, 1
+	
+	local function itor()
+		if i > s:len() then
+			return nil
+		end
+		
+		local width = charwidth(s, i)
+		local j = i
+		curchar = curchar + 1
+		i = i + width
+		return s:sub(j, i-1), curchar
+	end
+	
+	return itor
+end
+
+-- Returns the number of characters in s
+-- Runs in O(s:len()) time!
+function len(s)
+	local n = 0
+	for c in chars(s) do
+		n = n + 1
+	end
+	return n
+end
+
+-- Get codepoint of first char in s
+function codepoint(s)
+	-- Basic case, ASCII
+	local b = s:byte(1)
+	if s:byte(1) < 128 then
+		return s:byte(1)
+	end
+	
+	-- Use a naive decoding algorithm, and assume input is valid
+	local res, w = 0
+	
+	if b < 224 then
+		-- prefix byte is 110xxxxx
+		res = b - 192
+		w = 2
+	elseif b < 240 then
+		-- prefix byte is 11100000
+		res = b - 224
+		w = 3
+	elseif b < 248 then
+		-- prefix byte is 11110000
+		res = b - 240
+		w = 4
+	elseif b < 252 then
+		-- prefix byte is 11111000
+		res = b - 248
+		w = 5
+	else
+		-- prefix byte is 11111100
+		res = b - 252
+		w = 6
+	end
+	
+	for i = 2, w do
+		res = res*64 + s:byte(i) - 128
+	end
+	
+	return res
+end
diff --git a/automation/tests/test8.lua b/automation/tests/test8.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..472b81cf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/tests/test8.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+-- Automation 4 test file
+-- Test the unicode.lua include
+
+script_name = "Automation 4 test 7"
+script_description = "Test unicode.lua include"
+script_author = "Niels Martin Hansen"
+script_version = "1"
+
+include("unicode.lua")
+
+function test8(subtitles, selected_lines, active_line)
+	local s = "ōkii テスト aåDŽਵ℡랩ﾑ﹌"
+	
+	aegisub.debug.out("Test string is: " .. s .. "\n")
+	
+	aegisub.debug.out("Width of first character is: " .. unicode.charwidth(s, 1) .. "\n")
+	
+	local len = unicode.len(s)
+	aegisub.debug.out("Byte length is: " .. s:len() .. "\n")
+	aegisub.debug.out("Unicode length is: " .. len .. "\n")
+	
+	for c, i in unicode.chars(s) do
+		local cp = unicode.codepoint(c)
+		aegisub.debug.out(string.format("Character %d is '%s' with codepoint %d\n", i, c, cp))
+	end
+	
+	aegisub.debug.out("Done!")
+end
+
+aegisub.register_macro("Test Unicode", "Tests the Unicode include file", test8, nil)