Steps to reproduce: Launch `emacs -Q`, paste these four lines on a buffer aaaaaaaaa'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaa'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaa’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa’aaaaaaaaaa nnnnnnnnn'nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnn'nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn'nnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnn’nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnn’nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn’nnnnnnnnnn Search for the first one with char folding enabled. In my system Emacs doesn’t match the second line. It matches after I hit ‘C-M-d’ to delete the last character from the search query. If you search with char folding enabled for the third line then it does match the fourth, even though the third and the fourth lines are just copies of the first two with the a’s replaced by n’s. All the best, Andrea In GNU Emacs 27.2 (build 1, x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.24.30, cairo version 1.17.4) of 2021-08-07 built on buildvm-x86-29.iad2.fedoraproject.org Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12101003 System Description: Fedora 34 (Workstation Edition) Recent messages: For information about GNU Emacs and the GNU system, type C-h C-a. Making completion list... [2 times] Configured using: 'configure --build=x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu --host=x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu --program-prefix= --disable-dependency-tracking --prefix=/usr --exec-prefix=/usr --bindir=/usr/bin --sbindir=/usr/sbin --sysconfdir=/etc --datadir=/usr/share --includedir=/usr/include --libdir=/usr/lib64 --libexecdir=/usr/libexec --localstatedir=/var --sharedstatedir=/var/lib --mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info --with-dbus --with-gif --with-jpeg --with-png --with-rsvg --with-tiff --with-xft --with-xpm --with-x-toolkit=gtk3 --with-gpm=no --with-xwidgets --with-modules --with-harfbuzz --with-cairo --with-json build_alias=x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu host_alias=x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu CC=gcc 'CFLAGS=-DMAIL_USE_LOCKF -O2 -flto=auto -ffat-lto-objects -fexceptions -g -grecord-gcc-switches -pipe -Wall -Werror=format-security -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -Wp,-D_GLIBCXX_ASSERTIONS -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-hardened-cc1 -fstack-protector-strong -specs=/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-annobin-cc1 -m64 -mtune=generic -fasynchronous-unwind-tables -fstack-clash-protection -fcf-protection' LDFLAGS=-Wl,-z,relro PKG_CONFIG_PATH=:/usr/lib64/pkgconfig:/usr/share/pkgconfig' Configured features: XPM JPEG TIFF GIF PNG RSVG CAIRO SOUND DBUS GSETTINGS GLIB NOTIFY INOTIFY ACL LIBSELINUX GNUTLS LIBXML2 FREETYPE HARFBUZZ M17N_FLT LIBOTF ZLIB TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS GTK3 X11 XDBE XIM MODULES THREADS XWIDGETS LIBSYSTEMD JSON PDUMPER GMP Important settings: value of $LANG: en_GB.UTF-8 value of $XMODIFIERS: @im=ibus locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix Major mode: Lisp Interaction Minor modes in effect: tooltip-mode: t global-eldoc-mode: t eldoc-mode: t electric-indent-mode: t mouse-wheel-mode: t tool-bar-mode: t menu-bar-mode: t file-name-shadow-mode: t global-font-lock-mode: t font-lock-mode: t blink-cursor-mode: t auto-composition-mode: t auto-encryption-mode: t auto-compression-mode: t line-number-mode: t transient-mark-mode: t Load-path shadows: None found. Features: (shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug message rmc puny dired dired-loaddefs format-spec rfc822 mml easymenu mml-sec password-cache epa derived epg epg-config gnus-util rmail rmail-loaddefs text-property-search time-date subr-x seq byte-opt gv bytecomp byte-compile cconv mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader cl-loaddefs cl-lib sendmail rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr mail-utils tooltip eldoc electric uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel term/x-win x-win term/common-win x-dnd tool-bar dnd fontset image regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list replace newcomment text-mode elisp-mode lisp-mode prog-mode register page tab-bar menu-bar rfn-eshadow isearch timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax facemenu font-core term/tty-colors frame minibuffer cl-generic cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932 hebrew greek romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese composite charscript charprop case-table epa-hook jka-cmpr-hook help simple abbrev obarray cl-preloaded nadvice loaddefs button faces cus-face macroexp files text-properties overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget hashtable-print-readable backquote threads dbusbind inotify dynamic-setting system-font-setting font-render-setting xwidget-internal cairo move-toolbar gtk x-toolkit x multi-tty make-network-process emacs) Memory information: ((conses 16 45893 6606) (symbols 48 6007 1) (strings 32 15796 1378) (string-bytes 1 518486) (vectors 16 10238) (vector-slots 8 133527 10860) (floats 8 20 35) (intervals 56 271 0) (buffers 1000 12))