diff --git a/src/analytics/parser_util.cc b/src/analytics/parser_util.cc
index 9b1331f3b07..817b394fbfa 100644
--- a/src/analytics/parser_util.cc
+++ b/src/analytics/parser_util.cc
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ LineParser::GetAtrributes(const pugi::xml_node &node,
 {
      for (pugi::xml_attribute attr = node.first_attribute(); attr;
              attr = attr.next_attribute()) {
-         std::string s =  boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(std::string(
-                     attr.value()));
+         std::string s =  MakeSane(boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(std::string(
+                     attr.value())));
          if (!s.empty()) {
              LineParser::WordListType w = ParseDoc(s.begin(), s.end());
              words->insert(w.begin(), w.end());
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ LineParser::Travarse(const pugi::xml_node &node,
         if (check_attr)
             GetAtrributes(node, words);
     } else if (type == pugi::node_pcdata || type == pugi::node_cdata) {
-         std::string s =  boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(std::string(
-                     node.value()));
+         std::string s =  MakeSane(boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(std::string(
+                     node.value())));
          if (!s.empty()) {
              LineParser::WordListType w = ParseDoc(s.begin(), s.end());
              words->insert(w.begin(), w.end());
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ LineParser::ParseXML(const pugi::xml_node &node, bool check_attr)
 
 LineParser::WordListType
 LineParser::Parse(std::string s) {
-    std::string ls = boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(s);
+    std::string ls = MakeSane(boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(s));
     return ParseDoc(ls.begin(), ls.end());
 }
 
diff --git a/src/opserver/test/test_analytics_sys.py b/src/opserver/test/test_analytics_sys.py
index bb9f94449ca..3d3fd2bd2c9 100755
--- a/src/opserver/test/test_analytics_sys.py
+++ b/src/opserver/test/test_analytics_sys.py
@@ -466,9 +466,31 @@ def test_11_verify_syslog_table_query(self):
         line = 'football ' + chr(201) + chr(203) + chr(70) + ' and baseball'
         syslogger.critical(line)
         assert vizd_obj.verify_keyword_query(line, ['football', 'baseball'])
-
     # end test_11_verify_syslog_table_query
 
+    #@unittest.skip('verify message non ascii')
+    def test_12_verify_message_non_ascii(self):
+        '''
+        This test verifies message sent with non ascii character does not
+        crash vizd.
+        '''
+        logging.info('%%% test_12_verify_message_non_ascii %%%')
+        analytics = self.useFixture(
+            AnalyticsFixture(logging, builddir,
+                             self.__class__.redis_port,
+                             self.__class__.cassandra_port))
+        assert analytics.verify_on_setup()
+        collectors = [analytics.get_collector()]
+        generator_obj = self.useFixture(
+            GeneratorFixture('contrail-vrouter-agent-12', collectors,
+                             logging, None, node_type='Compute'))
+        assert generator_obj.verify_on_setup()
+        generator_obj.send_vrouterinfo(socket.gethostname(),
+            b_info = True, deleted = False, non_ascii=True)
+        # Verify vizd is still running
+        assert analytics.verify_collector_gen(analytics.collectors[0])
+    # end test_12_verify_message_non_ascii
+
     @staticmethod
     def get_free_port():
         cs = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
diff --git a/src/opserver/test/utils/generator_fixture.py b/src/opserver/test/utils/generator_fixture.py
index d583a89febf..c0087a3c563 100644
--- a/src/opserver/test/utils/generator_fixture.py
+++ b/src/opserver/test/utils/generator_fixture.py
@@ -400,7 +400,8 @@ def send_vn_config_uve(self, name, conn_nw=None, partial_conn_nw=None,
         vn_uve.send(sandesh=self._sandesh_instance)
     # end send_vn_config_uve
 
-    def send_vrouterinfo(self, name, b_info = False, deleted = False):
+    def send_vrouterinfo(self, name, b_info = False, deleted = False,
+                         non_ascii = False):
         vinfo = None
 
         if deleted:
@@ -408,8 +409,11 @@ def send_vrouterinfo(self, name, b_info = False, deleted = False):
                                  deleted = True)
         else:
             if b_info:
+                build_info="testinfo"
+                if non_ascii:
+                    build_info += ' ' + chr(201) + chr(203) + chr(213) + ' ' + build_info
                 vinfo = VrouterAgent(name=name,
-                                     build_info="testinfo",
+                                     build_info=build_info,
                                      state="OK")
             else:
                 vinfo = VrouterAgent(name=name, state="OK")