diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 24c138e..a251050 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -191,8 +191,8 @@ slattach:	$(NET_LIB) slattach.o
 plipconfig:	$(NET_LIB) plipconfig.o
 		$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ plipconfig.o $(NLIB) $(LDLIBS)
 
-netstat:	$(NET_LIB) netstat.o statistics.o
-		$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ netstat.o statistics.o $(NLIB) $(SELIB) $(LDLIBS)
+netstat:	$(NET_LIB) netstat.o statistics.o lib/escape.o
+		$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ netstat.o statistics.o lib/escape.o $(NLIB) $(SELIB) $(LDLIBS)
 
 iptunnel:	$(NET_LIB) iptunnel.o
 		$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ iptunnel.o $(NLIB) $(LDLIBS)
diff --git a/include/escape.h b/include/escape.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0238c68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/escape.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+ * escape.h - printing handling
+ *
+ * Copyright © 2011-2023 Jim Warner <james.warner@comcast.net>
+ * Copyright © 2016-2023 Craig Small <csmall@dropbear.xyz>
+ * Copyright © 1998-2005 Albert Cahalan
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+
+#ifndef ESCAPE_H
+#define ESCAPE_H
+
+void escape_str_inplace (char *string, int len);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/lib/Makefile b/lib/Makefile
index 8347645..90f767f 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile
+++ b/lib/Makefile
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ AFGROBJS = inet_gr.o inet6_gr.o ipx_gr.o ddp_gr.o netrom_gr.o ax25_gr.o rose_gr.
 AFSROBJS = inet_sr.o inet6_sr.o netrom_sr.o ipx_sr.o setroute.o x25_sr.o
 ACTOBJS  = slip_ac.o ppp_ac.o activate.o
 VARIA	 = getargs.o masq_info.o proc.o util.o nstrcmp.o interface.o sockets.o
+EXTRA	 = escape.o
 
 # Default Name
 NET_LIB_NAME = net-tools
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ SONAME=libnet-tools.so.0
 
 .SUFFIXES: .a .so
 
-all:	lib$(NET_LIB_NAME).a # lib$(NET_LIB_NAME).so
+all:	lib$(NET_LIB_NAME).a escape.o # lib$(NET_LIB_NAME).so
 
 lib$(NET_LIB_NAME).a:	Makefile $(TOPDIR)/config.h $(OBJS)
 			@echo Building $@
diff --git a/lib/escape.c b/lib/escape.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d7e367
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/escape.c
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+ */
+/*
+ * Escape character print handling derived from procps
+ * Copyright 1998-2002 by Albert Cahalan
+ * Copyright 2020-2022 Jim Warner <james.warner@comcast.net>
+ *
+ * Simplification for procps ps:
+ * Stephen Hemminger <stephen@networkplumber.org>, 2025
+ * Inplace modification:
+ * Stanislav Brabec <sbrabec@suse.com>, 2026
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <limits.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <langinfo.h>
+
+static const char UTF_tab[] = {
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x00 - 0x0F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x10 - 0x1F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x20 - 0x2F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x30 - 0x3F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x40 - 0x4F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x50 - 0x5F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x60 - 0x6F
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,
+	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1,	1,  1, // 0x70 - 0x7F
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, // 0x80 - 0x8F
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, // 0x90 - 0x9F
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, // 0xA0 - 0xAF
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, // 0xB0 - 0xBF
+	-1, -1, 2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2,
+	2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2, // 0xC0 - 0xCF
+	2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2,
+	2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2,	2,  2, // 0xD0 - 0xDF
+	3,  3,	3,  3,	3,  3,	3,  3,
+	3,  3,	3,  3,	3,  3,	3,  3, // 0xE0 - 0xEF
+	4,  4,	4,  4,	4,  -1, -1, -1,
+	-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, // 0xF0 - 0xFF
+};
+
+static const unsigned char ESC_tab[] = {
+	"@..............................." // 0x00 - 0x1F
+	"||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||" // 0x20 - 0x3F
+	"||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||" // 0x40 - 0x5f
+	"|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||." // 0x60 - 0x7F
+	"????????????????????????????????" // 0x80 - 0x9F
+	"????????????????????????????????" // 0xA0 - 0xBF
+	"????????????????????????????????" // 0xC0 - 0xDF
+	"????????????????????????????????" // 0xE0 - 0xFF
+};
+
+static void esc_all(unsigned char *str)
+{
+	// if bad locale/corrupt str, replace non-printing stuff
+	while (*str) {
+		unsigned char c = ESC_tab[*str];
+
+		if (c != '|')
+			*str = c;
+		++str;
+	}
+}
+
+static void esc_ctl(unsigned char *str, int len)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < len;) {
+		// even with a proper locale, strings might be corrupt
+		int n = UTF_tab[*str];
+
+		if (n < 0 || i + n > len) {
+			esc_all(str);
+			return;
+		}
+		// and eliminate those non-printing control characters
+		if (*str < 0x20 || *str == 0x7f)
+			*str = '?';
+		str += n;
+		i += n;
+	}
+}
+
+void escape_str_inplace(char *string, int len)
+{
+	static int utf_sw;
+
+	if (utf_sw == 0) {
+		char *enc = nl_langinfo(CODESET);
+
+		utf_sw = enc && strcasecmp(enc, "UTF-8") == 0 ? 1 : -1;
+	}
+
+	if (utf_sw < 0)
+		esc_all((unsigned char *)string);
+	else
+		esc_ctl((unsigned char *)string, len);
+}
diff --git a/netstat.c b/netstat.c
index b8be850..5a7d97a 100644
--- a/netstat.c
+++ b/netstat.c
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@
 #include "interface.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "proc.h"
+#include "escape.h"
 
 #if HAVE_SELINUX
 #include <selinux/selinux.h>
@@ -468,13 +469,7 @@ static void prg_cache_load(void)
                     // cmdlbuf[sizeof(cmdlbuf) - 1) is already \0
                     cmdllen = sizeof(cmdlbuf) - 1;
                 // remove all embedded controls
-                for(int i=0; i < cmdllen; i++) {
-                  char c = cmdlbuf[i];
-                  if (c == 0) // we dont process arguments
-                      break;
-                  if (c < ' ' || c > '~') // safe 7bit ASCII
-                      cmdlbuf[i] = '.';
-                }
+		escape_str_inplace (cmdlbuf, strlen(cmdlbuf));
 		if (cmdlbuf[0] == '/' && (cmdlp = strrchr(cmdlbuf, '/')))
 		    cmdlp++;
 		else