diff --git a/lib/querystring.js b/lib/querystring.js
index 4246e96..f770013 100644
--- a/lib/querystring.js
+++ b/lib/querystring.js
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ exports.parse = function(str){
       try{ 
         pair = decodeURIComponent(pair.replace(/\+/g, ' '));
       } catch(e) {
-        // ignore
+        pair = unescape(pair.replace(/\+/g, ' '));
       }
 
       var eql = pair.indexOf('=')
diff --git a/test/parse.test.js b/test/parse.test.js
index 4e7d730..d724cc0 100644
--- a/test/parse.test.js
+++ b/test/parse.test.js
@@ -140,8 +140,13 @@ module.exports = {
   'test malformed uri': function(){
     qs.parse('{%:%}').should.eql({ '{%:%}': '' });
     qs.parse('foo=%:%}').should.eql({ 'foo': '%:%}' });
+    qs.parse('foo=%:%}%20').should.eql({ 'foo': '%:%} ' });
+  },
+
+  'test unescaping of non-utf8 encoded data': function(){
+    qs.parse('foo=%E4%20bar').should.eql({ 'foo': String.fromCharCode('228') + ' bar' });
   }
-  
+
   // 'test complex': function(){
   //   qs.parse('users[][name][first]=tj&users[foo]=bar')
   //     .should.eql({