diff --git a/src/chat/misc.c b/src/chat/misc.c
index 6ef71ba..0d2c41f 100644
--- a/src/chat/misc.c
+++ b/src/chat/misc.c
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ void add_brackets(char **json)
 
 why2_bool is_ascii(char c)
 {
-    return 20 <= c && c <= 126;
+    return 33 <= c && c <= 126;
 }
 
 void remove_non_ascii(char **text)