diff --git a/src/chars.c b/src/chars.c
index 5ff07386..aec44db9 100644
--- a/src/chars.c
+++ b/src/chars.c
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ bool is_word_mbchar(const char *c, bool allow_punct)
 
 	if (word_chars != NULL && *word_chars != '\0') {
 		char symbol[MAXCHARLEN + 1];
-		int symlen = parse_mbchar(c, symbol, NULL);
+		int symlen = collect_char(c, symbol);
 
 		symbol[symlen] = '\0';
 		return (strstr(word_chars, symbol) != NULL);
@@ -287,9 +287,8 @@ size_t mbstrlen(const char *pointer)
 }
 
 /* Parse a multibyte character from buf.  Return the number of bytes
- * used.  If chr isn't NULL, store the multibyte character in it.  If
- * col isn't NULL, add the character's width (in columns) to it. */
-int parse_mbchar(const char *buf, char *chr, size_t *col)
+ * used, and store the multibyte character in *chr. */
+int collect_char(const char *buf, char *chr)
 {
 	int length;
 
@@ -305,30 +304,10 @@ int parse_mbchar(const char *buf, char *chr, size_t *col)
 #endif
 		length = 1;
 
-	/* When requested, store the multibyte character in chr. */
-	if (chr != NULL)
+	/* Store the multibyte character in chr. */
 		for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
 			chr[i] = buf[i];
 
-	/* When requested, add the width of the character to col. */
-	if (col != NULL) {
-		/* If we have a tab, compute its width in columns based on the
-		 * current value of col. */
-		if (*buf == '\t')
-			*col += tabsize - *col % tabsize;
-		/* If we have a control character, it's two columns wide: one
-		 * column for the "^", and one for the visible character. */
-		else if (is_cntrl_mbchar(buf))
-			*col += 2;
-		/* If we have a normal character, get its width normally. */
-		else if (length == 1)
-			*col += 1;
-#ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
-		else
-			*col += mbwidth(buf);
-#endif
-	}
-
 	return length;
 }
 
@@ -622,7 +601,7 @@ bool has_blank_char(const char *string)
 	char symbol[MAXCHARLEN];
 
 	while (*string != '\0') {
-		string += parse_mbchar(string, symbol, NULL);
+		string += collect_char(string, symbol);
 
 		if (is_blank_mbchar(symbol))
 			return TRUE;
diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 5a0ee0f3..8d6cd0bb 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -2489,10 +2489,10 @@ char *input_tab(char *buf, bool allow_files, size_t *place,
 
 		/* Get the number of characters that all matches have in common. */
 		while (TRUE) {
-			len1 = parse_mbchar(matches[0] + common_len, char1, NULL);
+			len1 = collect_char(matches[0] + common_len, char1);
 
 			for (match = 1; match < num_matches; match++) {
-				len2 = parse_mbchar(matches[match] + common_len, char2, NULL);
+				len2 = collect_char(matches[match] + common_len, char2);
 
 				if (len1 != len2 || strncmp(char1, char2, len2) != 0)
 					break;
diff --git a/src/nano.c b/src/nano.c
index a12b49cd..ef391256 100644
--- a/src/nano.c
+++ b/src/nano.c
@@ -1813,7 +1813,7 @@ void do_output(char *output, size_t output_len, bool allow_cntrls)
 			output[i] = '\n';
 
 		/* Get the next multibyte character. */
-		charlen = parse_mbchar(output + i, onechar, NULL);
+		charlen = collect_char(output + i, onechar);
 
 		i += charlen;
 
diff --git a/src/prompt.c b/src/prompt.c
index 3e75cb3a..8695ed1d 100644
--- a/src/prompt.c
+++ b/src/prompt.c
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ void do_statusbar_output(int *the_input, size_t input_len,
 			output[j] = '\n';
 
 		/* Interpret the next multibyte character. */
-		charlen = parse_mbchar(output + j, onechar, NULL);
+		charlen = collect_char(output + j, onechar);
 
 		j += charlen;
 
diff --git a/src/proto.h b/src/proto.h
index 5e6aa345..8e4f753d 100644
--- a/src/proto.h
+++ b/src/proto.h
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ int mbwidth(const char *c);
 char *make_mbchar(long chr, int *chr_mb_len);
 int char_length(const char *pointer);
 size_t mbstrlen(const char *s);
-int parse_mbchar(const char *buf, char *chr, size_t *col);
+int collect_char(const char *buf, char *chr);
 int advance_over(const char *string, size_t *column);
 size_t step_left(const char *buf, size_t pos);
 size_t step_right(const char *buf, size_t pos);
diff --git a/src/text.c b/src/text.c
index 499597c3..60a1cf8f 100644
--- a/src/text.c
+++ b/src/text.c
@@ -1178,8 +1178,8 @@ void add_undo(undo_type action, const char *message)
 		 * else purposely fall into the line-joining code. */
 		if (openfile->current->data[openfile->current_x] != '\0') {
 			char *char_buf = charalloc(MAXCHARLEN + 1);
-			int charlen = parse_mbchar(&openfile->current->data[u->begin],
-												char_buf, NULL);
+			int charlen = collect_char(&openfile->current->data[u->begin],
+												char_buf);
 			char_buf[charlen] = '\0';
 			u->strdata = char_buf;
 			if (u->type == BACK)
@@ -1300,8 +1300,8 @@ void update_undo(undo_type action)
 	switch (u->type) {
 	case ADD:
 		char_buf = charalloc(MAXCHARLEN);
-		charlen = parse_mbchar(&openfile->current->data[u->mark_begin_x],
-								char_buf, NULL);
+		charlen = collect_char(&openfile->current->data[u->mark_begin_x],
+								char_buf);
 		u->strdata = addstrings(u->strdata, u->strdata ? strlen(u->strdata) : 0,
 								char_buf, charlen);
 		u->mark_begin_lineno = openfile->current->lineno;
@@ -1314,8 +1314,8 @@ void update_undo(undo_type action)
 	case BACK:
 	case DEL:
 		char_buf = charalloc(MAXCHARLEN);
-		charlen = parse_mbchar(&openfile->current->data[openfile->current_x],
-								char_buf, NULL);
+		charlen = collect_char(&openfile->current->data[openfile->current_x],
+								char_buf);
 		if (openfile->current_x == u->begin) {
 			/* They deleted more: add removed character after earlier stuff. */
 			u->strdata = addstrings(u->strdata, strlen(u->strdata), char_buf, charlen);
@@ -1637,7 +1637,7 @@ size_t indent_length(const char *line)
 	int charlen;
 
 	while (*line != '\0') {
-		charlen = parse_mbchar(line, onechar, NULL);
+		charlen = collect_char(line, onechar);
 
 		if (!is_blank_mbchar(onechar))
 			break;
diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index d1f80eb8..02eba0b6 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -203,8 +203,8 @@ bool is_separate_word(size_t position, size_t length, const char *buf)
 	size_t word_end = position + length;
 
 	/* Get the characters before and after the word, if any. */
-	parse_mbchar(buf + step_left(buf, position), before, NULL);
-	parse_mbchar(buf + word_end, after, NULL);
+	collect_char(buf + step_left(buf, position), before);
+	collect_char(buf + word_end, after);
 
 	/* If the word starts at the beginning of the line OR the character before
 	 * the word isn't a letter, and if the word ends at the end of the line OR
diff --git a/src/winio.c b/src/winio.c
index f315f64b..92679666 100644
--- a/src/winio.c
+++ b/src/winio.c
@@ -2686,7 +2686,7 @@ void draw_row(int row, const char *converted, linestruct *line, size_t from_col)
 		size_t charlen = 1;
 
 		if (*(converted + target_x) != '\0') {
-			charlen = parse_mbchar(converted + target_x, striped_char, NULL);
+			charlen = collect_char(converted + target_x, striped_char);
 			target_column = wideness(converted, target_x);
 		} else if (target_column + 1 == editwincols) {
 			/* Defeat a VTE bug -- see https://sv.gnu.org/bugs/?55896. */