diff --git a/usr.bin/nl/nl.1 b/usr.bin/nl/nl.1
index 846de61e69e4..be7fbe1697dc 100644
--- a/usr.bin/nl/nl.1
+++ b/usr.bin/nl/nl.1
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 .\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
 .\" POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 .\"
-.Dd September 20, 2001
+.Dd July 13, 2004
 .Dt NL 1
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -223,6 +223,17 @@ The default
 .Ar width
 is 6.
 .El
+.Sh ENVIRONMENT
+The
+.Ev LANG,
+.Ev LC_ALL,
+.Ev LC_CTYPE
+and
+.Ev LC_COLLATE
+environment variables affect the execution of
+.Nm
+as described in
+.Xr environ 7 .
 .Sh DIAGNOSTICS
 .Ex -std
 .Sh SEE ALSO
@@ -238,7 +249,3 @@ The
 .Nm
 utility first appeared in
 .At V.2 .
-.Sh BUGS
-The
-.Nm
-utility does not recognize multibyte characters.
diff --git a/usr.bin/nl/nl.c b/usr.bin/nl/nl.c
index e3a5342bfc17..662ce268aa94 100644
--- a/usr.bin/nl/nl.c
+++ b/usr.bin/nl/nl.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ __RCSID("$FreeBSD$");
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <wchar.h>
 
 typedef enum {
 	number_all,		/* number all lines */
@@ -107,11 +108,13 @@ static size_t buffersize;
  */
 static char *intbuffer;
 
+/* delimiter characters that indicate the start of a logical page section */
+static char delim[2 * MB_LEN_MAX];
+static int delimlen;
+
 /*
  * Configurable parameters.
  */
-/* delimiter characters that indicate the start of a logical page section */
-static char delim[2] = { '\\', ':' };
 
 /* line numbering format */
 static const char *format = FORMAT_RN;
@@ -141,11 +144,13 @@ main(argc, argv)
 	int argc;
 	char *argv[];
 {
-	int c;
+	int c, n;
 	long val;
 	unsigned long uval;
 	char *ep;
-	size_t intbuffersize;
+	size_t intbuffersize, clen;
+	char delim1[MB_LEN_MAX] = { '\\' }, delim2[MB_LEN_MAX] = { ':' };
+	size_t delim1len = 1, delim2len = 1;
 
 	(void)setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
 
@@ -158,16 +163,24 @@ main(argc, argv)
 			parse_numbering(optarg, BODY);
 			break;
 		case 'd':
-			if (optarg[0] != '\0')
-				delim[0] = optarg[0];
-			if (optarg[1] != '\0')
-				delim[1] = optarg[1];
-			/* at most two delimiter characters */
-			if (optarg[2] != '\0') {
-				errx(EXIT_FAILURE,
-				    "invalid delim argument -- %s",
-				    optarg);
-				/* NOTREACHED */
+			clen = mbrlen(optarg, MB_CUR_MAX, NULL);
+			if (clen == (size_t)-1 || clen == (size_t)-2)
+				errc(EXIT_FAILURE, EILSEQ, NULL);
+			if (clen != 0) {
+				memcpy(delim1, optarg, delim1len = clen);
+				clen = mbrlen(optarg + delim1len,
+				    MB_CUR_MAX, NULL);
+				if (clen == (size_t)-1 ||
+				    clen == (size_t)-2)
+					errc(EXIT_FAILURE, EILSEQ, NULL);
+				if (clen != 0) {
+					memcpy(delim2, optarg + delim1len,
+					    delim2len = clen);
+				if (optarg[delim1len + clen] != '\0')
+					errx(EXIT_FAILURE,
+					    "invalid delim argument -- %s",
+					    optarg);
+				}
 			}
 			break;
 		case 'f':
@@ -251,6 +264,11 @@ main(argc, argv)
 		/* NOTREACHED */
 	}
 
+	/* Generate the delimiter sequence */
+	memcpy(delim, delim1, delim1len);
+	memcpy(delim + delim1len, delim2, delim2len);
+	delimlen = delim1len + delim2len;
+
 	/* Determine the maximum input line length to operate on. */
 	if ((val = sysconf(_SC_LINE_MAX)) == -1) /* ignore errno */
 		val = LINE_MAX;
@@ -290,10 +308,10 @@ filter()
 	while (fgets(buffer, (int)buffersize, stdin) != NULL) {
 		for (idx = FOOTER; idx <= NP_LAST; idx++) {
 			/* Does it look like a delimiter? */
-			if (buffer[2 * idx + 0] == delim[0] &&
-			    buffer[2 * idx + 1] == delim[1]) {
+			if (memcmp(buffer + delimlen * idx, delim,
+			    delimlen) == 0) {
 				/* Was this the whole line? */
-				if (buffer[2 * idx + 2] == '\n') {
+				if (buffer[delimlen * (idx + 1)] == '\n') {
 					section = idx;
 					adjblank = 0;
 					if (restart)