diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 97a00a5a1a3..096d6d3c60b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
     "lodash.isequal": "^4.4.0",
     "lodash.isplainobject": "^4.0.6",
     "lodash.omit": "^4.5.0",
-    "lodash.unescape": "^4.0.1",
     "lodash.union": "^4.6.0",
     "lodash.uniqby": "^4.4.0",
     "react": "16.11.0",
diff --git a/src/__tests__/lib/exampleData.js b/src/__tests__/lib/exampleData.js
index 5eb81dcce71..4439e0d8679 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/lib/exampleData.js
+++ b/src/__tests__/lib/exampleData.js
@@ -80,6 +80,23 @@ const makeUniqueRandInt = (itemsType: string, end: number): (() => number) => {
 /** Return a string that's almost surely different every time. */
 export const randString = () => randInt(2 ** 54).toString(36);
 
+const intRange = (start, len) => Array.from({ length: len }, (k, i) => i + start);
+
+/** A string with diverse characters to exercise encoding/decoding bugs. */
+/* eslint-disable prefer-template */
+export const diverseCharacters =
+  // The whole range of lowest code points, including control codes
+  // and ASCII punctuation like `"` and `&` used in various syntax...
+  String.fromCharCode(...intRange(0, 0x100))
+  // ... some characters from other scripts...
+  + 'いい文字🎇'
+  // ... some unpaired surrogates, which JS strings can have...
+  + String.fromCharCode(...intRange(0xdbf0, 0x20))
+  // ... some characters beyond the BMP (≥ U+10000)...
+  + '𐂷𠂢'
+  // ... and some code points at the very end of the Unicode range.
+  + String.fromCodePoint(...intRange(0x10fff0, 0x10));
+
 /* ========================================================================
  * Users and bots
  */
diff --git a/src/utils/__tests__/narrow-test.js b/src/utils/__tests__/narrow-test.js
index ba65920b66d..05f34029074 100644
--- a/src/utils/__tests__/narrow-test.js
+++ b/src/utils/__tests__/narrow-test.js
@@ -420,15 +420,8 @@ describe('isSameNarrow', () => {
   });
 });
 
-describe('parseNarrow', () => {
-  test('straightforward arrays are parsed', () => {
-    expect(parseNarrow('[]')).toEqual([]);
-    expect(parseNarrow('[{"operator":"hey"}]')).toEqual([{ operator: 'hey' }]);
-  });
-});
-
 describe('keyFromNarrow+parseNarrow', () => {
-  const narrows = [
+  const baseNarrows = [
     ['whole stream', streamNarrow(eg.stream.name)],
     ['stream conversation', topicNarrow(eg.stream.name, 'a topic')],
     ['1:1 PM conversation, non-self', pm1to1NarrowFromUser(eg.otherUser)],
@@ -440,8 +433,30 @@ describe('keyFromNarrow+parseNarrow', () => {
     ['all-PMs', ALL_PRIVATE_NARROW],
     ['search narrow', SEARCH_NARROW('a query')],
   ];
+
+  // The only character not allowed in Zulip stream names is '\x00'.
+  // (See `check_stream_name` in zulip.git:zerver/lib/streams.py.)
+  // Try approximately everything else.
+  /* eslint-disable no-control-regex */
+  const diverseCharacters = eg.diverseCharacters.replace(/\x00/g, '');
+  const htmlEntities = 'h & t & &lquo;ml"';
+  const awkwardNarrows = [
+    ['whole stream about awkward characters', streamNarrow(diverseCharacters)],
+    ['whole stream about HTML entities', streamNarrow(htmlEntities)],
+    [
+      'stream conversation about awkward characters',
+      topicNarrow(diverseCharacters, `regarding ${diverseCharacters}`),
+    ],
+    [
+      'stream conversation about HTML entities',
+      topicNarrow(htmlEntities, `regarding ${htmlEntities}`),
+    ],
+    ['search narrow for awkward characters', SEARCH_NARROW(diverseCharacters)],
+    ['search narrow for HTML entities', SEARCH_NARROW(htmlEntities)],
+  ];
+
   describe('round-trips', () => {
-    for (const [description, narrow] of narrows) {
+    for (const [description, narrow] of [...baseNarrows, ...awkwardNarrows]) {
       test(description, () => {
         expect(parseNarrow(keyFromNarrow(narrow))).toEqual(narrow);
       });
diff --git a/src/utils/narrow.js b/src/utils/narrow.js
index a3ab7ab13bd..d7be54294d0 100644
--- a/src/utils/narrow.js
+++ b/src/utils/narrow.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 /* @flow strict-local */
 import isEqual from 'lodash.isequal';
-import unescape from 'lodash.unescape';
 
 import type { Narrow, Message, Outbox, User, UserOrBot } from '../types';
 import {
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@ export const isSameNarrow = (narrow1: Narrow, narrow2: Narrow): boolean =>
 /**
  * Parse a narrow previously encoded with keyFromNarrow.
  */
-export const parseNarrow = (narrowStr: string): Narrow => JSON.parse(unescape(narrowStr));
+export const parseNarrow = (narrowStr: string): Narrow => JSON.parse(narrowStr);
 
 /**
  * The key we use for this narrow in our Redux data structures.