diff --git a/libntfs-3g/unistr.c b/libntfs-3g/unistr.c
index 7f278cd1..71802aa7 100644
--- a/libntfs-3g/unistr.c
+++ b/libntfs-3g/unistr.c
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@
 
 #define NOREVBOM 0  /* JPA rejecting U+FFFE and U+FFFF, open to debate */
 
+#ifndef ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+/* Erik allowing broken UTF-16 surrogate pairs by default, open to debate. */
+#define ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES 1
+#endif /* !defined(ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES) */
+
 /*
  * IMPORTANT
  * =========
@@ -462,8 +467,22 @@ static int utf16_to_utf8_size(const ntfschar *ins, const int ins_len, int outs_l
 			if ((c >= 0xdc00) && (c < 0xe000)) {
 				surrog = FALSE;
 				count += 4;
-			} else 
+			} else {
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+				/* The first UTF-16 unit of a surrogate pair has
+				 * a value between 0xd800 and 0xdc00. It can be
+				 * encoded as an individual UTF-8 sequence if we
+				 * cannot combine it with the next UTF-16 unit
+				 * unit as a surrogate pair. */
+				surrog = FALSE;
+				count += 3;
+
+				--i;
+				continue;
+#else
 				goto fail;
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
+			}
 		} else
 			if (c < 0x80)
 				count++;
@@ -473,6 +492,10 @@ static int utf16_to_utf8_size(const ntfschar *ins, const int ins_len, int outs_l
 				count += 3;
 			else if (c < 0xdc00)
 				surrog = TRUE;
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+			else if (c < 0xe000)
+				count += 3;
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
 #if NOREVBOM
 			else if ((c >= 0xe000) && (c < 0xfffe))
 #else
@@ -487,7 +510,11 @@ static int utf16_to_utf8_size(const ntfschar *ins, const int ins_len, int outs_l
 		}
 	}
 	if (surrog) 
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+		count += 3; /* ending with a single surrogate */
+#else
 		goto fail;
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
 
 	ret = count;
 out:
@@ -548,8 +575,24 @@ static int ntfs_utf16_to_utf8(const ntfschar *ins, const int ins_len,
 				*t++ = 0x80 + ((c >> 6) & 15) + ((halfpair & 3) << 4);
 				*t++ = 0x80 + (c & 63);
 				halfpair = 0;
-			} else 
+			} else {
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+				/* The first UTF-16 unit of a surrogate pair has
+				 * a value between 0xd800 and 0xdc00. It can be
+				 * encoded as an individual UTF-8 sequence if we
+				 * cannot combine it with the next UTF-16 unit
+				 * unit as a surrogate pair. */
+				*t++ = 0xe0 | (halfpair >> 12);
+				*t++ = 0x80 | ((halfpair >> 6) & 0x3f);
+				*t++ = 0x80 | (halfpair & 0x3f);
+				halfpair = 0;
+
+				--i;
+				continue;
+#else
 				goto fail;
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
+			}
 		} else if (c < 0x80) {
 			*t++ = c;
 	    	} else {
@@ -562,6 +605,13 @@ static int ntfs_utf16_to_utf8(const ntfschar *ins, const int ins_len,
 		        	*t++ = 0x80 | (c & 0x3f);
 			} else if (c < 0xdc00)
 				halfpair = c;
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+			else if (c < 0xe000) {
+				*t++ = 0xe0 | (c >> 12);
+				*t++ = 0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3f);
+				*t++ = 0x80 | (c & 0x3f);
+			}
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
 			else if (c >= 0xe000) {
 				*t++ = 0xe0 | (c >> 12);
 				*t++ = 0x80 | ((c >> 6) & 0x3f);
@@ -570,6 +620,13 @@ static int ntfs_utf16_to_utf8(const ntfschar *ins, const int ins_len,
 				goto fail;
 	        }
 	}
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+	if (halfpair) { /* ending with a single surrogate */
+		*t++ = 0xe0 | (halfpair >> 12);
+		*t++ = 0x80 | ((halfpair >> 6) & 0x3f);
+		*t++ = 0x80 | (halfpair & 0x3f);
+	}
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
 	*t = '\0';
 	
 #if defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__DARWIN__)
@@ -693,10 +750,16 @@ static int utf8_to_unicode(u32 *wc, const char *s)
 			/* Check valid ranges */
 #if NOREVBOM
 			if (((*wc >= 0x800) && (*wc <= 0xD7FF))
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+			  || ((*wc >= 0xD800) && (*wc <= 0xDFFF))
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
 			  || ((*wc >= 0xe000) && (*wc <= 0xFFFD)))
 				return 3;
 #else
 			if (((*wc >= 0x800) && (*wc <= 0xD7FF))
+#if ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES
+			  || ((*wc >= 0xD800) && (*wc <= 0xDFFF))
+#endif /* ALLOW_BROKEN_SURROGATES */
 			  || ((*wc >= 0xe000) && (*wc <= 0xFFFF)))
 				return 3;
 #endif