diff -r 9794796d4ced dcpp/SimpleXMLReader.cpp
--- a/dcpp/SimpleXMLReader.cpp	Sat Nov 12 00:21:38 2016 +0100
+++ b/dcpp/SimpleXMLReader.cpp	Sun Dec 18 21:50:18 2016 +0200
@@ -249,9 +249,7 @@
 		if((state == STATE_ELEMENT_ATTR_VALUE_APOS && c == '\'') || (state == STATE_ELEMENT_ATTR_VALUE_QUOT && c == '"')) {
 			append(attribs.back().second, MAX_VALUE_SIZE, buf.begin() + bufPos, buf.begin() + bufPos + i);
 
-			if(!encoding.empty() && encoding != Text::utf8) {
-				attribs.back().second = Text::toUtf8(attribs.back().second, encoding);
-			}
+			decodeString(attribs.back().second);
 
 			state = STATE_ELEMENT_ATTR;
 			advancePos(i + 1);
@@ -736,9 +734,7 @@
 		}
 
 		if(oldState == STATE_CONTENT && state != oldState && !value.empty()) {
-			if(!encoding.empty() && encoding != Text::utf8) {
-				value = Text::toUtf8(value, encoding);
-			}
+			decodeString(value);
 			cb->data(value);
 			value.clear();
 		}
@@ -749,6 +745,18 @@
 
 	// should never happen
 	return false;
-};
+}
+
+void SimpleXMLReader::decodeString(string& str_) {
+	auto isUtf8 = encoding.empty() || compare(encoding, Text::utf8) == 0;
+
+	if (isUtf8) {
+		if (!Text::validateUtf8(str_)) {
+			error("UTF-8 validation failed");
+		}
+	} else {
+		str_ = Text::toUtf8(str_, encoding);
+	}
+}
 
 }
diff -r 9794796d4ced dcpp/SimpleXMLReader.h
--- a/dcpp/SimpleXMLReader.h	Sat Nov 12 00:21:38 2016 +0100
+++ b/dcpp/SimpleXMLReader.h	Sun Dec 18 21:50:18 2016 +0200
@@ -189,6 +189,8 @@
 	bool spaceOrError(const char* error);
 
 	bool error(const char* message);
+
+	void decodeString(string& str_);
 };
 
 
diff -r 9794796d4ced dcpp/Text.cpp
--- a/dcpp/Text.cpp	Sat Nov 12 00:21:38 2016 +0100
+++ b/dcpp/Text.cpp	Sun Dec 18 21:50:18 2016 +0200
@@ -387,50 +387,49 @@
 		return acpToUtf8(str, tmp);
 	if(fromCharset == utf8 || toLower(fromCharset, tmp) == utf8)
 		return utf8ToAcp(str, tmp);
+#else
+	// Initialize the converter
+	iconv_t cd = iconv_open(toCharset.c_str(), fromCharset.c_str());
+	if (cd != (iconv_t)-1) {
+		size_t rv;
+		size_t len = str.length() * 2; // optimization
+		size_t inleft = str.length();
+		size_t outleft = len;
+		tmp.resize(len);
+		const char *inbuf = str.data();
+		char *outbuf = (char *)tmp.data();
 
+		while (inleft > 0) {
+			rv = iconv(cd, (ICONV_CONST char **)&inbuf, &inleft, &outbuf, &outleft);
+			if (rv == (size_t)-1) {
+				size_t used = outbuf - tmp.data();
+				if (errno == E2BIG) {
+					len *= 2;
+					tmp.resize(len);
+					outbuf = (char *)tmp.data() + used;
+					outleft = len - used;
+				}
+				else if (errno == EILSEQ) {
+					++inbuf;
+					--inleft;
+					tmp[used] = '_';
+				}
+				else {
+					tmp.replace(used, inleft, string(inleft, '_'));
+					inleft = 0;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		iconv_close(cd);
+		if (outleft > 0) {
+			tmp.resize(len - outleft);
+		}
+		return tmp;
+	}
+#endif
 	// We don't know how to convert arbitrary charsets
 	dcdebug("Unknown conversion from %s to %s\n", fromCharset.c_str(), toCharset.c_str());
-	return str;
-#else
-
-	// Initialize the converter
-	iconv_t cd = iconv_open(toCharset.c_str(), fromCharset.c_str());
-	if(cd == (iconv_t)-1)
-		return str;
-
-	size_t rv;
-	size_t len = str.length() * 2; // optimization
-	size_t inleft = str.length();
-	size_t outleft = len;
-	tmp.resize(len);
-	const char *inbuf = str.data();
-	char *outbuf = (char *)tmp.data();
-
-	while(inleft > 0) {
-		rv = iconv(cd, (ICONV_CONST char **)&inbuf, &inleft, &outbuf, &outleft);
-		if(rv == (size_t)-1) {
-			size_t used = outbuf - tmp.data();
-			if(errno == E2BIG) {
-				len *= 2;
-				tmp.resize(len);
-				outbuf = (char *)tmp.data() + used;
-				outleft = len - used;
-			} else if(errno == EILSEQ) {
-				++inbuf;
-				--inleft;
-				tmp[used] = '_';
-			} else {
-				tmp.replace(used, inleft, string(inleft, '_'));
-				inleft = 0;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	iconv_close(cd);
-	if(outleft > 0) {
-		tmp.resize(len - outleft);
-	}
-	return tmp;
-#endif
+	return Util::emptyString;
 }
 }