diff --git a/aexpect/client.py b/aexpect/client.py
index a369046..e2d7752 100644
--- a/aexpect/client.py
+++ b/aexpect/client.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import threading
 import time
+from codecs import getincrementaldecoder
 
 from aexpect.exceptions import (
     ExpectError,
@@ -56,6 +57,9 @@
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+# Buffer size in byte for pipe reads
+READ_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024
+
 
 def kill_tail_threads():
     """
@@ -731,6 +735,8 @@ def _print_line(text):
             poller = select.poll()
             poller.register(tail_pipe, select.POLLIN)
             bfr = ""
+            decoder_class = getincrementaldecoder(self.encoding)
+            decoder = decoder_class(errors="ignore")
             while True:
                 if _THREAD_KILL_REQUESTED.is_set():
                     try:
@@ -745,10 +751,10 @@ def _print_line(text):
                     break
                 if poll_status:
                     # Some data is available; read it
-                    new_data = os.read(tail_pipe, 1024)
-                    if not new_data:
+                    new_bytes = os.read(tail_pipe, READ_BUFFER_SIZE)
+                    if not new_bytes:
                         break
-                    new_data = new_data.decode(self.encoding, "ignore")
+                    new_data = decoder.decode(input=new_bytes)
                     if not new_data:  # all chars were ignored, skip round
                         continue
                     bfr += new_data
@@ -901,23 +907,23 @@ def _read_nonblocking(self, internal_timeout=None, timeout=None):
         expect_pipe = self._get_fd("expect")
         poller = select.poll()
         poller.register(expect_pipe, select.POLLIN)
-        data = ""
+        data = b""
         read = 0
         while True:
             try:
                 poll_status = poller.poll(internal_timeout)
             except select.error:
-                return read, data
+                return read, data.decode(self.encoding, "ignore")
             if poll_status:
-                raw_data = os.read(expect_pipe, 1024)
+                raw_data = os.read(expect_pipe, READ_BUFFER_SIZE)
                 if not raw_data:
-                    return read, data
+                    return read, data.decode(self.encoding, "ignore")
                 read += len(raw_data)
-                data += raw_data.decode(self.encoding, "ignore")
+                data += raw_data
             else:
-                return read, data
+                return read, data.decode(self.encoding, "ignore")
             if end_time and time.monotonic() > end_time:
-                return read, data
+                return read, data.decode(self.encoding, "ignore")
 
     def read_nonblocking(self, internal_timeout=None, timeout=None):
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 4a7cafb..1a2c33f 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import random
 import string
 import sys
+import time
 import unittest
 
 from aexpect import client
@@ -194,5 +195,88 @@ def get_proc_fds():
         )
 
 
+class EncodingTest(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    TEXT = "嗨😀"
+    MAX_OFFSET = 10
+
+    def _multibyte_write_cmd(self, offset, count=1):
+        """Build a Python command that writes multibyte text to stdout."""
+        encoded = self.TEXT.encode("utf-8")
+        reps = 1024 // len(encoded) + 1
+        writes = "; ".join(["f.write(t); f.flush()"] * count)
+        return (
+            f"import os,sys; t=b' '*{offset}+{encoded!r}*{reps}+b'\\n'; "
+            f"f=os.fdopen(sys.stdout.fileno(),'wb',closefd=False); {writes}"
+        )
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(os.name == "posix", "Unix/Linux/macOS only")
+    def test_shell(self):
+        """Test multibyte decoding in ShellSession across buffer boundaries."""
+        sess = client.ShellSession("/bin/sh")
+        sess.cmd_output("echo init")
+        lengths = []
+        for offset in range(self.MAX_OFFSET):
+            cmd = self._multibyte_write_cmd(offset)
+            result = sess.cmd_output(f'{sys.executable} -c "{cmd}"').lstrip()
+            self.assertTrue(
+                result.startswith(self.TEXT),
+                f"offset {offset}: unexpected start: {result[:20]!r}",
+            )
+            lengths.append(len(result))
+        sess.close()
+        self.assertTrue(lengths, "No output collected")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            len(set(lengths)),
+            1,
+            f"Output lengths vary across offsets: {lengths}",
+        )
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(os.name == "posix", "Unix/Linux/macOS only")
+    def test_tail(self):
+        """Test multibyte decoding in Tail across buffer boundaries."""
+        tail_lines = 3
+        lengths = []
+        output_buffer = []
+        for offset in range(self.MAX_OFFSET):
+            output_buffer = []
+            terminated = False
+
+            def on_output(text):
+                nonlocal output_buffer
+                output_buffer.append(text)
+
+            def on_terminate(_status):
+                nonlocal terminated
+                terminated = True
+
+            cmd = self._multibyte_write_cmd(offset, count=tail_lines)
+            tail = client.Tail(
+                f'{sys.executable} -c "{cmd}"',
+                output_func=on_output,
+                termination_func=on_terminate,
+            )
+            for _ in range(1000):
+                if terminated:
+                    break
+                time.sleep(0.01)
+            tail.close()
+            for line in output_buffer:
+                if line.startswith("(Process terminated "):
+                    continue
+                stripped = line.lstrip()
+                self.assertTrue(
+                    stripped.startswith(self.TEXT),
+                    f"offset {offset}: unexpected start: {stripped[:20]!r}",
+                )
+                lengths.append(len(stripped))
+        self.assertTrue(lengths, "No output collected")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            len(set(lengths)),
+            1,
+            f"Output lengths vary across offsets: {lengths}",
+        )
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()