diff --git a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.c b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.c
index 548a5b43e3..7b83c094a3 100644
--- a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.c
+++ b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.c
@@ -387,6 +387,12 @@ _strbuf_init(NMStrBuf *str, const char *value, gsize i)
 
 const char *
 svUnescape(const char *value, char **to_free)
+{
+    return svUnescape_full(value, to_free, TRUE);
+}
+
+const char *
+svUnescape_full(const char *value, char **to_free, gboolean check_utf8)
 {
     NMStrBuf str                      = NM_STR_BUF_INIT(0, FALSE);
     int      looks_like_old_svescaped = -1;
@@ -662,6 +668,8 @@ out_value:
     }
 
     if (str.allocated > 0) {
+        if (check_utf8 && !nm_str_buf_utf8_validate(&str))
+            goto out_error;
         if (str.len == 0 || nm_str_buf_get_str_unsafe(&str)[0] == '\0') {
             nm_str_buf_destroy(&str);
             *to_free = NULL;
@@ -672,6 +680,11 @@ out_value:
         }
     }
 
+    if (check_utf8 && !g_utf8_validate(value, i, NULL)) {
+        *to_free = NULL;
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     if (value[i] != '\0') {
         *to_free = g_strndup(value, i);
         return *to_free;
@@ -1136,9 +1149,8 @@ _svGetValue(shvarFile *s, const char *key, char **to_free)
     if (line && line->line) {
         v = svUnescape(line->line, to_free);
         if (!v) {
-            /* a wrongly quoted value is treated like the empty string.
-             * See also svWriteFile(), which handles unparsable values
-             * that way. */
+            /* a wrongly quoted value or non-UTF-8 is treated like the empty string.
+             * See also svWriteFile(), which handles unparsable values that way. */
             nm_assert(!*to_free);
             return "";
         }
diff --git a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.h b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.h
index 6965d87314..49101669ef 100644
--- a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.h
+++ b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/shvar.h
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ void svCloseFile(shvarFile *s);
 
 const char *svEscape(const char *s, char **to_free);
 const char *svUnescape(const char *s, char **to_free);
+const char *svUnescape_full(const char *value, char **to_free, gboolean check_utf8);
 
 static inline void
 _nm_auto_shvar_file_close(shvarFile **p_s)
diff --git a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/network-scripts/ifcfg-test-write-unknown-4.expected b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/network-scripts/ifcfg-test-write-unknown-4.expected
index 040ddc9d7d..92c03b12ec 100644
--- a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/network-scripts/ifcfg-test-write-unknown-4.expected
+++ b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/network-scripts/ifcfg-test-write-unknown-4.expected
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@
 #L2
 
 METRIC1=''
-METRIC2=$'\U0x'
-METRIC3=$'x\U0'
+METRIC2=
+#NM: METRIC2=$'\U0x'
+METRIC3=
+#NM: METRIC3=$'x\U0'
 
 #L4
 IPADDR=set-by-test1
diff --git a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/test-ifcfg-rh.c b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/test-ifcfg-rh.c
index 6193b952b9..f0c6c05396 100644
--- a/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/test-ifcfg-rh.c
+++ b/src/core/settings/plugins/ifcfg-rh/tests/test-ifcfg-rh.c
@@ -10476,7 +10476,7 @@ _svUnescape(const char *str, char **to_free)
         str = (str_free = g_strdup(str));
     }
 
-    s = svUnescape(str, to_free);
+    s = svUnescape_full(str, to_free, FALSE);
     if (*to_free) {
         g_assert(s == *to_free);
         g_assert(s[0]);
@@ -10484,6 +10484,37 @@ _svUnescape(const char *str, char **to_free)
         g_assert(s == NULL || (!s[0] && (s < str || s > strchr(str, '\0')))
                  || (s[0] && s >= str && s <= strchr(str, '\0')));
     }
+
+    {
+        const char *  s2;
+        gs_free char *to_free2 = NULL;
+
+        gboolean is_utf8 = s && g_utf8_validate(s, -1, NULL);
+
+        s2 = svUnescape_full(str, &to_free2, TRUE);
+        if (NM_IN_STRSET(str, "$'\\U0x'", "$'\\x0'", "$'\\008'", "$'\\08'")) {
+            g_assert_cmpstr(s2, ==, NULL);
+            g_assert(!to_free2);
+            g_assert_cmpstr(s, ==, "");
+            g_assert(!*to_free);
+        } else if (NM_IN_STRSET(str, "$'x\\U0'")) {
+            g_assert_cmpstr(s2, ==, NULL);
+            g_assert(!to_free2);
+            g_assert_cmpstr(s, ==, "x");
+            g_assert(*to_free == s);
+        } else if (!is_utf8) {
+            g_assert(!s2);
+            g_assert(!to_free2);
+        } else if (!to_free2) {
+            g_assert_cmpstr(s, ==, s2);
+            g_assert(s == s2);
+        } else {
+            g_assert_cmpstr(s, ==, s2);
+            g_assert(s != s2);
+            g_assert(s2 == to_free2);
+        }
+    }
+
     return s;
 }
 
@@ -10665,6 +10696,9 @@ test_svUnescape(void)
         V1("\"\\'\"''", "\\'"),
         V0("\"b\\~b\" ", "b\\~b"),
         V1("\"b\\~b\"x", "b\\~bx"),
+
+        V0("$'x\\U0'", "x"),
+        V0("$'\\U0x'", ""),
     };
     const UnescapeTestData data_ansi[] = {
         /* strings inside $''. They cannot be compared directly, but must
@@ -10851,7 +10885,7 @@ test_write_unknown(gconstpointer test_data)
         _svGetValue_check(sv, "METRIC", NULL);
         _svGetValue_check(sv, "METRIC1", "");
         _svGetValue_check(sv, "METRIC2", "");
-        _svGetValue_check(sv, "METRIC3", "x");
+        _svGetValue_check(sv, "METRIC3", "");
 
         _svGetValue_check(sv, "IPADDR", "set-by-test1");
         _svGetValue_check(sv, "IPADDR2", "set-by-test2");