diff --git a/classes/pref/prefs.php b/classes/pref/prefs.php
index 6c33170bd..d36e31f0b 100644
--- a/classes/pref/prefs.php
+++ b/classes/pref/prefs.php
@@ -65,26 +65,26 @@ class Pref_Prefs extends Handler_Protected {
 		$con_pw = $_POST["confirm_password"];
 
 		if ($old_pw == "") {
-			print "ERROR: ".__("Old password cannot be blank.");
+			print "ERROR: ".format_error("Old password cannot be blank.");
 			return;
 		}
 
 		if ($new_pw == "") {
-			print "ERROR: ".__("New password cannot be blank.");
+			print "ERROR: ".format_error("New password cannot be blank.");
 			return;
 		}
 
 		if ($new_pw != $con_pw) {
-			print "ERROR: ".__("Entered passwords do not match.");
+			print "ERROR: ".format_error("Entered passwords do not match.");
 			return;
 		}
 
 		$authenticator = PluginHost::getInstance()->get_plugin($_SESSION["auth_module"]);
 
 		if (method_exists($authenticator, "change_password")) {
-			print $authenticator->change_password($_SESSION["uid"], $old_pw, $new_pw);
+			print format_notice($authenticator->change_password($_SESSION["uid"], $old_pw, $new_pw));
 		} else {
-			print "ERROR: ".__("Function not supported by authentication module.");
+			print "ERROR: ".format_error("Function not supported by authentication module.");
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -244,6 +244,8 @@ class Pref_Prefs extends Handler_Protected {
 
 			print "<h2>" . __("Password") . "</h2>";
 
+			print "<div style='display : none' id='pwd_change_infobox'></div>";
+
 			$result = $this->dbh->query("SELECT id FROM ttrss_users
 				WHERE id = ".$_SESSION["uid"]." AND pwd_hash
 				= 'SHA1:5baa61e4c9b93f3f0682250b6cf8331b7ee68fd8'");
@@ -264,12 +266,20 @@ class Pref_Prefs extends Handler_Protected {
 					onComplete: function(transport) {
 						notify('');
 						if (transport.responseText.indexOf('ERROR: ') == 0) {
-							notify_error(transport.responseText.replace('ERROR: ', ''));
+
+							$('pwd_change_infobox').innerHTML =
+								transport.responseText.replace('ERROR: ', '');
+
 						} else {
-							notify_info(transport.responseText);
+							$('pwd_change_infobox').innerHTML =
+								transport.responseText.replace('ERROR: ', '');
+
 							var warn = $('default_pass_warning');
 							if (warn) Element.hide(warn);
 						}
+
+						new Effect.Appear('pwd_change_infobox');
+
 				}});
 				this.reset();
 			}
diff --git a/include/functions2.php b/include/functions2.php
index e212609db..1936d146d 100644
--- a/include/functions2.php
+++ b/include/functions2.php
@@ -1483,9 +1483,9 @@
 
 		$tag = preg_replace('/[\'\"\+\>\<]/', "", $tag);
 
-//		$tag = str_replace('"', "", $tag);
-//		$tag = str_replace("+", " ", $tag);
-		$tag = str_replace("technorati tag: ", "", $tag);
+		if (DB_TYPE == "mysql") {
+			$tag = preg_replace('/[\x{10000}-\x{10FFFF}]/u', "\xEF\xBF\xBD", $tag);
+		}
 
 		return $tag;
 	}
diff --git a/include/rssfuncs.php b/include/rssfuncs.php
index 8797ee523..6eb4e6d98 100644
--- a/include/rssfuncs.php
+++ b/include/rssfuncs.php
@@ -761,7 +761,11 @@
 				// Workaround: 4-byte unicode requires utf8mb4 in MySQL. See https://tt-rss.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3377&p=20077#p20077
 				if (DB_TYPE == "mysql") {
 					foreach ($article as $k => $v) {
-						$article[$k] = preg_replace('/[\x{10000}-\x{10FFFF}]/u', "\xEF\xBF\xBD", $v);
+
+						// i guess we'll have to take the risk of 4byte unicode labels & tags here
+						if (!is_array($article[$k])) {
+							$article[$k] = preg_replace('/[\x{10000}-\x{10FFFF}]/u', "\xEF\xBF\xBD", $v);
+						}
 					}
 				}