diff --git a/autotests/kconfigtest.h b/autotests/kconfigtest.h
--- a/autotests/kconfigtest.h
+++ b/autotests/kconfigtest.h
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@
     void testConfigCopyToSync();
     void testReparent();
     void testAnonymousConfig();
+    void testQByteArrayUtf8();
 
     void testSubGroup();
     void testAddConfigSources();
diff --git a/autotests/kconfigtest.cpp b/autotests/kconfigtest.cpp
--- a/autotests/kconfigtest.cpp
+++ b/autotests/kconfigtest.cpp
@@ -1719,6 +1719,35 @@
     QCOMPARE(general.readEntry("Foo"), QString("Bar"));
 }
 
+void KConfigTest::testQByteArrayUtf8()
+{
+    QTemporaryFile file;
+    QVERIFY(file.open());
+    qWarning() << file.fileName();
+    KConfig config(file.fileName(), KConfig::SimpleConfig);
+    KConfigGroup general(&config, "General");
+    QByteArray bytes(256, '\0');
+    for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
+        bytes[i] = i;
+    }
+    general.writeEntry("Utf8", bytes);
+    config.sync();
+    file.flush();
+    file.close();
+    QFile readFile(file.fileName());
+    QVERIFY(readFile.open(QFile::ReadOnly));
+#ifndef Q_OS_WIN
+    QCOMPARE(readFile.readAll(), QByteArrayLiteral("[General]\nUtf8=\\x00\\x01\\x02\\x03\\x04\\x05\\x06\\x07\\x08\\t\\n\\x0b\\x0c\\r\\x0e\\x0f\\x10\\x11\\x12\\x13\\x14\\x15\\x16\\x17\\x18\\x19\\x1a\\x1b\\x1c\\x1d\\x1e\\x1f !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\\\\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~\\x7f\\x80\\x81\\x82\\x83\\x84\\x85\\x86\\x87\\x88\\x89\\x8a\\x8b\\x8c\\x8d\\x8e\\x8f\\x90\\x91\\x92\\x93\\x94\\x95\\x96\\x97\\x98\\x99\\x9a\\x9b\\x9c\\x9d\\x9e\\x9f\\xa0\\xa1\\xa2\\xa3\\xa4\\xa5\\xa6\\xa7\\xa8\\xa9\\xaa\\xab\\xac\\xad\\xae\\xaf\\xb0\\xb1\\xb2\\xb3\\xb4\\xb5\\xb6\\xb7\\xb8\\xb9\\xba\\xbb\\xbc\\xbd\\xbe\\xbf\\xc0\\xc1\\xc2\\xc3\\xc4\\xc5\\xc6\\xc7\\xc8\\xc9\\xca\\xcb\\xcc\\xcd\\xce\\xcf\\xd0\\xd1\\xd2\\xd3\\xd4\\xd5\\xd6\\xd7\\xd8\\xd9\\xda\\xdb\\xdc\\xdd\\xde\\xdf\\xe0\\xe1\\xe2\\xe3\\xe4\\xe5\\xe6\\xe7\\xe8\\xe9\\xea\\xeb\\xec\\xed\\xee\\xef\\xf0\\xf1\\xf2\\xf3\\xf4\\xf5\\xf6\\xf7\\xf8\\xf9\\xfa\\xfb\\xfc\\xfd\\xfe\\xff\n"));
+#else
+    QCOMPARE(readFile.readAll(), QByteArrayLiteral("[General]\r\nUtf8=\\x00\\x01\\x02\\x03\\x04\\x05\\x06\\x07\\x08\\t\\n\\x0b\\x0c\\r\\x0e\\x0f\\x10\\x11\\x12\\x13\\x14\\x15\\x16\\x17\\x18\\x19\\x1a\\x1b\\x1c\\x1d\\x1e\\x1f !\"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\\\\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~\\x7f\\x80\\x81\\x82\\x83\\x84\\x85\\x86\\x87\\x88\\x89\\x8a\\x8b\\x8c\\x8d\\x8e\\x8f\\x90\\x91\\x92\\x93\\x94\\x95\\x96\\x97\\x98\\x99\\x9a\\x9b\\x9c\\x9d\\x9e\\x9f\\xa0\\xa1\\xa2\\xa3\\xa4\\xa5\\xa6\\xa7\\xa8\\xa9\\xaa\\xab\\xac\\xad\\xae\\xaf\\xb0\\xb1\\xb2\\xb3\\xb4\\xb5\\xb6\\xb7\\xb8\\xb9\\xba\\xbb\\xbc\\xbd\\xbe\\xbf\\xc0\\xc1\\xc2\\xc3\\xc4\\xc5\\xc6\\xc7\\xc8\\xc9\\xca\\xcb\\xcc\\xcd\\xce\\xcf\\xd0\\xd1\\xd2\\xd3\\xd4\\xd5\\xd6\\xd7\\xd8\\xd9\\xda\\xdb\\xdc\\xdd\\xde\\xdf\\xe0\\xe1\\xe2\\xe3\\xe4\\xe5\\xe6\\xe7\\xe8\\xe9\\xea\\xeb\\xec\\xed\\xee\\xef\\xf0\\xf1\\xf2\\xf3\\xf4\\xf5\\xf6\\xf7\\xf8\\xf9\\xfa\\xfb\\xfc\\xfd\\xfe\\xff\r\n"));
+#endif
+
+    // check that reading works
+    KConfig config2(file.fileName(), KConfig::SimpleConfig);
+    KConfigGroup general2(&config2, "General");
+    QCOMPARE(bytes, general2.readEntry("Utf8", QByteArray()));
+}
+
 void KConfigTest::testNewlines()
 {
     // test that kconfig always uses the native line endings
diff --git a/src/core/kconfigini.cpp b/src/core/kconfigini.cpp
--- a/src/core/kconfigini.cpp
+++ b/src/core/kconfigini.cpp
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@
         switch (s[i]) {
         default:
             // The \n, \t, \r cases (all < 32) are handled below; we can ignore them here
-            if (((unsigned char)s[i]) < 32) {
+            if (((unsigned char)s[i]) < 32 || ((unsigned char)s[i]) >= 127) {
                 goto doEscape;
             }
             *data++ = s[i];