--- editfns.c.~1.296.~	Tue Feb  6 00:19:19 2001
+++ editfns.c	Thu Feb  8 22:33:11 2001
@@ -167,7 +167,9 @@
 
   CHECK_NUMBER (character, 0);
 
-  len = CHAR_STRING (XFASTINT (character), str);
+  len = SINGLE_BYTE_CHAR_P (XFASTINT (character))
+    ? (*str = (unsigned char)(XFASTINT (character)), 1)
+    : char_to_string (XFASTINT (character), str);
   return make_string_from_bytes (str, 1, len);
 }