diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index b760fee336..629da49aa1 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
 
+2.6-723 | 2019-07-30 19:36:56 -0700
+
+  * Add LogAscii::enable_utf_8 option (Dev Bali, Corelight)
+
+    This option allows valid utf8 sequences to be written directly
+    into the ASCII logs without any escaping.
+
 2.6-713 | 2019-07-30 18:12:49 +0000
 
   * Fix memory leaks in expire_func introduced by recent changes (Jon
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 1ab7eb38cf..3f415db988 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ New Functionality
       local three = make_adder(3);
       print three(5); # prints 8
 
+- Add ``LogAscii::enable_utf_8`` option to allow valid utf8 sequences
+  to be written directly into the ASCII logs without any escaping.
+
 Changed Functionality
 ---------------------
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index be79d9bda7..33b4eff95f 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.6-713
+2.6-723
diff --git a/doc b/doc
index bb2f06ff8e..f3b78d6369 160000
--- a/doc
+++ b/doc
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit bb2f06ff8e3b6ae1f362ad4b56da4ef2ebb12d0c
+Subproject commit f3b78d63696c3145144fbd8cfd82cdae15a13e98
diff --git a/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.zeek b/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.zeek
index a32ce552e3..c06de02242 100644
--- a/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.zeek
+++ b/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.zeek
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ export {
 	## This option is also available as a per-filter ``$config`` option.
 	const use_json = F &redef;
 
+	## If true, valid UTF-8 sequences will pass through unescaped and be
+	## written into logs.
+	##
+	## This option is also available as a per-filter ``$config`` option.
+	const enable_utf_8 = F &redef;
+
 	## Define the gzip level to compress the logs.  If 0, then no gzip
 	## compression is performed. Enabling compression also changes
 	## the log file name extension to include ".gz".
diff --git a/src/Desc.cc b/src/Desc.cc
index f10f61fa77..aa9bfdacad 100644
--- a/src/Desc.cc
+++ b/src/Desc.cc
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #include "File.h"
 #include "Reporter.h"
 
+#include "ConvertUTF.h"
+
 #define DEFAULT_SIZE 128
 #define SLOP 10
 
@@ -39,6 +41,7 @@ ODesc::ODesc(desc_type t, BroFile* arg_f)
 	include_stats = 0;
 	indent_with_spaces = 0;
 	escape = false;
+	utf8 = false;
 	}
 
 ODesc::~ODesc()
@@ -57,6 +60,11 @@ void ODesc::EnableEscaping()
 	escape = true;
 	}
 
+void ODesc::EnableUTF8 ()
+	{
+	utf8 = true;
+	}
+
 void ODesc::PushIndent()
 	{
 	++indent_level;
@@ -258,13 +266,42 @@ pair<const char*, size_t> ODesc::FirstEscapeLoc(const char* bytes, size_t n)
 
 	for ( size_t i = 0; i < n; ++i )
 		{
-		if ( ! isprint(bytes[i]) || bytes[i] == '\\' )
+		auto printable = isprint(bytes[i]);
+
+		if ( ! printable && ! utf8 )
+			return escape_pos(bytes + i, 1);
+
+		if ( bytes[i] == '\\' )
 			return escape_pos(bytes + i, 1);
 
 		size_t len = StartsWithEscapeSequence(bytes + i, bytes + n);
 
 		if ( len )
 			return escape_pos(bytes + i, len);
+
+		if ( ! printable && utf8 )
+			{
+			size_t utf_found = getNumBytesForUTF8(bytes[i]);
+
+			if ( utf_found == 1 )
+				return escape_pos(bytes + i, 1);
+
+			if ( i + utf_found > n )
+				// Don't know if this is even meant to be a utf8 encoding,
+				// since there's not enough bytes left to check it's a valid
+				// sequence, so maybe safest to just move up by one instead
+				// of escaping the entire remainder.
+				return escape_pos(bytes + i, 1);
+
+			if ( isLegalUTF8Sequence(reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char *>(bytes + i),
+			                         reinterpret_cast<const unsigned char *>(bytes + i + utf_found)) )
+				{
+				i += utf_found - 1;
+				continue;
+				}
+
+			return escape_pos(bytes + i, 1);
+			}
 		}
 
 	return escape_pos(0, 0);
diff --git a/src/Desc.h b/src/Desc.h
index 8f7ae53ac4..53a2e52b61 100644
--- a/src/Desc.h
+++ b/src/Desc.h
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ public:
 	void SetFlush(int arg_do_flush)	{ do_flush = arg_do_flush; }
 
 	void EnableEscaping();
+	void EnableUTF8();
 	void AddEscapeSequence(const char* s) { escape_sequences.insert(s); }
 	void AddEscapeSequence(const char* s, size_t n)
 	    { escape_sequences.insert(string(s, n)); }
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ protected:
 	unsigned int offset;	// where we are in the buffer
 	unsigned int size;	// size of buffer in bytes
 
+	bool utf8; // whether valid utf-8 sequences may pass through unescaped
 	bool escape;	// escape unprintable characters in output?
 	typedef set<string> escape_set;
 	escape_set escape_sequences; // additional sequences of chars to escape
diff --git a/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.cc b/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.cc
index f84bde5488..79a6c49941 100644
--- a/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.cc
+++ b/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Ascii::Ascii(WriterFrontend* frontend) : WriterBackend(frontend)
 	include_meta = false;
 	tsv = false;
 	use_json = false;
+	enable_utf_8 = false;
 	formatter = 0;
 	gzip_level = 0;
 	gzfile = nullptr;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ void Ascii::InitConfigOptions()
 	output_to_stdout = BifConst::LogAscii::output_to_stdout;
 	include_meta = BifConst::LogAscii::include_meta;
 	use_json = BifConst::LogAscii::use_json;
+	enable_utf_8 = BifConst::LogAscii::enable_utf_8;
 	gzip_level = BifConst::LogAscii::gzip_level;
 
 	separator.assign(
@@ -115,6 +117,19 @@ bool Ascii::InitFilterOptions()
 				}
 			}
 
+		else if ( strcmp(i->first, "enable_utf_8") == 0 )
+			{
+			if ( strcmp(i->second, "T") == 0 )
+				enable_utf_8 = true;
+			else if ( strcmp(i->second, "F") == 0 )
+				enable_utf_8 = false;
+			else
+				{
+				Error("invalid value for 'enable_utf_8', must be a string and either \"T\" or \"F\"");
+				return false;
+				}
+			}
+
 		else if ( strcmp(i->first, "output_to_stdout") == 0 )
 			{
 			if ( strcmp(i->second, "T") == 0 )
@@ -181,6 +196,10 @@ bool Ascii::InitFormatter()
 		}
 	else
 		{
+		// Enable utf-8 if needed
+		if ( enable_utf_8 )
+			desc.EnableUTF8();
+
 		// Use the default "Bro logs" format.
 		desc.EnableEscaping();
 		desc.AddEscapeSequence(separator);
diff --git a/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.h b/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.h
index d1a6f2d0f3..1ee9c29599 100644
--- a/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.h
+++ b/src/logging/writers/ascii/Ascii.h
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ private:
 
 	int gzip_level; // level > 0 enables gzip compression
 	bool use_json;
+	bool enable_utf_8;
 	string json_timestamps;
 
 	threading::formatter::Formatter* formatter;
diff --git a/src/logging/writers/ascii/ascii.bif b/src/logging/writers/ascii/ascii.bif
index b12b14f1a0..d8263f07c0 100644
--- a/src/logging/writers/ascii/ascii.bif
+++ b/src/logging/writers/ascii/ascii.bif
@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@ const set_separator: string;
 const empty_field: string;
 const unset_field: string;
 const use_json: bool;
+const enable_utf_8: bool;
 const json_timestamps: JSON::TimestampFormat;
 const gzip_level: count;
diff --git a/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled-control-characters/test.log b/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled-control-characters/test.log
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..48b8c72898
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled-control-characters/test.log
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#separator \x09
+#set_separator	,
+#empty_field	(empty)
+#unset_field	-
+#path	test
+#open	2019-07-23-11-40-47
+#fields	s
+#types	string
+foo \x0a\x09\x00 bar
+#close	2019-07-23-11-40-47
diff --git a/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled-set-separator-escape/test.log b/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled-set-separator-escape/test.log
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..db59fed0b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled-set-separator-escape/test.log
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#separator \x09
+#set_separator	\xc2\xae
+#empty_field	(empty)
+#unset_field	-
+#path	test
+#open	2019-07-23-11-46-43
+#fields	ss
+#types	set[string]
+\xc2\xae
+#close	2019-07-23-11-46-43
diff --git a/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled/test.log b/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled/test.log
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be0a7d94ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/Baseline/scripts.base.frameworks.logging.ascii-utf8-enabled/test.log
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#separator \x09
+#set_separator	,
+#empty_field	(empty)
+#unset_field	-
+#path	test
+#open	2019-07-22-10-13-09
+#fields	s
+#types	string
+foo ® bar
+दुनिया को नमस्ते
+hello 𠜎
+#close	2019-07-22-10-13-09
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled-control-characters.zeek b/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled-control-characters.zeek
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e98a295c0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled-control-characters.zeek
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#
+# @TEST-EXEC: zeek -b %INPUT
+# @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff test.log
+
+redef LogAscii::enable_utf_8 = T;
+
+module Test;
+export {
+	redef enum Log::ID += { LOG };
+
+	type Log: record {
+		s: string;
+	} &log;
+}
+
+event zeek_init()
+	{
+	local a = "foo \n\t\0 bar";
+	Log::create_stream(Test::LOG, [$columns=Log]);
+	Log::write(Test::LOG, [$s=a]);
+	}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled-set-separator-escape.zeek b/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled-set-separator-escape.zeek
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6f6ca1875b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled-set-separator-escape.zeek
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#
+# @TEST-EXEC: zeek -b %INPUT
+# @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff test.log
+
+redef LogAscii::enable_utf_8 = T;
+
+redef LogAscii::set_separator = "\xc2\xae";
+
+module Test;
+
+export {
+	redef enum Log::ID += { LOG };
+
+	type Log: record {
+		ss: set[string];
+	} &log;
+}
+
+event zeek_init()
+	{
+	Log::create_stream(Test::LOG, [$columns=Log]);
+	Log::write(Test::LOG, [$ss=set("\xc2\xae")]);
+	}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled.zeek b/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled.zeek
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac7b1f5daf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/ascii-utf8-enabled.zeek
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#
+# @TEST-EXEC: zeek -b %INPUT
+# @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff test.log
+
+redef LogAscii::enable_utf_8 = T;
+
+module Test;
+export {
+	redef enum Log::ID += { LOG };
+
+	type Log: record {
+		s: string;
+	} &log;
+}
+
+event zeek_init()
+{
+	local a = "foo \xc2\xae bar"; # 2 bytes
+	local b = "दुनिया को नमस्ते"; # Hindi characters are 3 byte utf-8
+	local c = "hello 𠜎"; # A 4 byte Chinese character
+
+	Log::create_stream(Test::LOG, [$columns=Log]);
+	Log::write(Test::LOG, [$s=a]);
+	Log::write(Test::LOG, [$s=b]);
+	Log::write(Test::LOG, [$s=c]);
+}
\ No newline at end of file