diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 29557c7..ec40a32 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -64,6 +64,15 @@ class CommandLineTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             f.write('---\n'
                     'key: value\n')
 
+        # non-ASCII chars
+        os.mkdir(os.path.join(self.wd, 'non-ascii'))
+        with open(os.path.join(self.wd, 'non-ascii', 'utf-8'), 'wb') as f:
+            f.write((u'---\n'
+                     u'- hétérogénéité\n'
+                     u'# 19.99 €\n'
+                     u'- お早う御座います。\n'
+                     u'# الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة\n').encode('utf-8'))
+
     def tearDown(self):
         shutil.rmtree(self.wd)
 
@@ -261,6 +270,19 @@ class CommandLineTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(out, '')
         self.assertEqual(err, '')
 
+    def test_run_non_ascii_file(self):
+        file = os.path.join(self.wd, 'non-ascii', 'utf-8')
+
+        sys.stdout, sys.stderr = StringIO(), StringIO()
+        with self.assertRaises(SystemExit) as ctx:
+            cli.run(('-f', 'parsable', file))
+
+        self.assertEqual(ctx.exception.code, 0)
+
+        out, err = sys.stdout.getvalue(), sys.stderr.getvalue()
+        self.assertEqual(out, '')
+        self.assertEqual(err, '')
+
     def test_run_multiple_files(self):
         items = [os.path.join(self.wd, 'empty.yml'),
                  os.path.join(self.wd, 's')]
diff --git a/tests/test_linter.py b/tests/test_linter.py
index 8b223a5..db126ad 100644
--- a/tests/test_linter.py
+++ b/tests/test_linter.py
@@ -44,3 +44,15 @@ class LinterTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_run_on_list(self):
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, linter.run,
                           ['h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'], self.fake_config())
+
+    def test_run_on_non_ascii_chars(self):
+        s = (u'- hétérogénéité\n'
+             u'# 19.99 €\n')
+        linter.run(s, self.fake_config())
+        linter.run(s.encode('utf-8'), self.fake_config())
+        linter.run(s.encode('iso-8859-15'), self.fake_config())
+
+        s = (u'- お早う御座います。\n'
+             u'# الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة\n')
+        linter.run(s, self.fake_config())
+        linter.run(s.encode('utf-8'), self.fake_config())
diff --git a/yamllint/linter.py b/yamllint/linter.py
index 358d5f8..b546e8a 100644
--- a/yamllint/linter.py
+++ b/yamllint/linter.py
@@ -71,7 +71,10 @@ def get_costemic_problems(buffer, conf):
             self.all_rules = set([r.ID for r in rules])
 
         def process_comment(self, comment):
-            comment = repr(comment)
+            try:
+                comment = str(comment)
+            except UnicodeError:
+                return  # this certainly wasn't a yamllint directive comment
 
             if re.match(r'^# yamllint disable( rule:\S+)*\s*$', comment):
                 rules = [item[5:] for item in comment[18:].split(' ')][1:]
@@ -95,7 +98,10 @@ def get_costemic_problems(buffer, conf):
 
     class DisableLineDirective(DisableDirective):
         def process_comment(self, comment):
-            comment = repr(comment)
+            try:
+                comment = str(comment)
+            except UnicodeError:
+                return  # this certainly wasn't a yamllint directive comment
 
             if re.match(r'^# yamllint disable-line( rule:\S+)*\s*$', comment):
                 rules = [item[5:] for item in comment[23:].split(' ')][1:]
diff --git a/yamllint/parser.py b/yamllint/parser.py
index a757aa9..335fa08 100644
--- a/yamllint/parser.py
+++ b/yamllint/parser.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class Comment(object):
         self.token_after = token_after
         self.comment_before = comment_before
 
-    def __repr__(self):
+    def __str__(self):
         end = self.buffer.find('\n', self.pointer)
         if end == -1:
             end = self.buffer.find('\0', self.pointer)