diff --git a/w2v-server.pl b/w2v-server.pl
index b7c1f55..127c779 100755
--- a/w2v-server.pl
+++ b/w2v-server.pl
@@ -327,17 +327,17 @@
 
 void filter_garbage() {
   long i;
-  char *w, previous, c;
+  unsigned char *w, previous, c;
   garbage = malloc(words);
   memset(garbage, 0, words);
   for (i = 0; i < words; i++) {
     w = vocab + i * max_w;
     previous = 0;
-    while((c=*w++) && !garbage[i]) {
-      if( ((c & 32) == 0 && (previous & 32) == 32) || 
-         previous == '-' && (c & 32) ||
-         c == ''
-    ) {
+    while((c = *w++) && !garbage[i]) {
+      if( ((c <= 90 && c >= 65) && (previous >= 97 && previous <= 122)) || 
+          (previous == '-' && (c & 32)) ||
+          (previous == 0xc2 && (c == 0xa4 || c == 0xb6 ))
+        ) {
         garbage[i]=1;
         continue;
       }