diff --git a/Lib/shlex.py b/Lib/shlex.py
index 279ab484059..92c49c36084 100644
--- a/Lib/shlex.py
+++ b/Lib/shlex.py
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ def split(s, comments=False, posix=True):
     return list(lex)
 
 
-_find_unsafe = re.compile(r'[^\w\d@%_\-\+=:,\./]').search
+_find_unsafe = re.compile(r'[^\w@%\-\+=:,\./]', re.ASCII).search
 
 def quote(s):
     """Return a shell-escaped version of the string *s*."""
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_shlex.py b/Lib/test/test_shlex.py
index ea3d777ceba..d4463f30048 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_shlex.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_shlex.py
@@ -176,7 +176,8 @@ def testCompat(self):
 
     def testQuote(self):
         safeunquoted = string.ascii_letters + string.digits + '@%_-+=:,./'
-        unsafe = '"`$\\!'
+        unicode_sample = '\xe9\xe0\xdf'  # e + acute accent, a + grave, sharp s
+        unsafe = '"`$\\!' + unicode_sample
 
         self.assertEqual(shlex.quote(''), "''")
         self.assertEqual(shlex.quote(safeunquoted), safeunquoted)