diff --git a/powerline/lib/unicode.py b/powerline/lib/unicode.py
index b100b18f..8a720036 100644
--- a/powerline/lib/unicode.py
+++ b/powerline/lib/unicode.py
@@ -21,6 +21,17 @@ except ImportError:
 	unichr = chr
 
 
+if sys.maxunicode < 0x10FFFF:
+	_unichr = unichr
+
+	def unichr(ch):
+		if ch <= sys.maxunicode:
+			return _unichr(ch)
+		else:
+			ch -= 0x10000
+			return _unichr((ch >> 10) + 0xD800) + _unichr((ch & ((1 << 10) - 1)) + 0xDC00)
+
+
 def u(s):
 	'''Return unicode instance assuming UTF-8 encoded string.
 	'''
diff --git a/tests/test_lib.py b/tests/test_lib.py
index 06b28fa7..1766f6a1 100644
--- a/tests/test_lib.py
+++ b/tests/test_lib.py
@@ -419,8 +419,7 @@ class TestUnicode(TestCase):
 		self.assertTrue(type('abc') is plu.unicode)
 
 	def test_unichr(self):
-		if not sys.maxunicode < 0x10FFFF:
-			self.assertStringsIdentical('\U0010FFFF', plu.unichr(0x10FFFF))
+		self.assertStringsIdentical('\U0010FFFF', plu.unichr(0x10FFFF))
 		self.assertStringsIdentical('\uFFFF', plu.unichr(0xFFFF))
 		self.assertStringsIdentical('\x20', plu.unichr(0x20))