diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 02e631c..e0cbfbd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -382,11 +382,11 @@ for await (const [key, value] of db.iterator()) {
 
 > :pushpin: The key structure is equal to that of [`subleveldown`](https://github.com/Level/subleveldown) which offered sublevels before they were built-in to `abstract-level`. This means that an `abstract-level` sublevel can read sublevels previously created with (and populated by) `subleveldown`.
 
-Internally, sublevels operate on keys that are either a string, Buffer or Uint8Array, depending on parent database and choice of encoding. Which is to say: binary keys are fully supported. The `name` must however always be a string and can only contain ASCII characters.
+Internally, sublevels operate on keys that are either a string, Buffer or Uint8Array, depending on parent database and choice of encoding. Which is to say: binary keys are fully supported. The `name` must however always be a string.
 
 The optional `options` object may contain:
 
-- `separator` (string, default: `'!'`): Character for separating sublevel names from user keys and each other. Must sort before characters used in `name`. An error will be thrown if that's not the case.
+- `separator` (string, default: `'!'`): Character for separating sublevel names from user keys and each other.
 - `keyEncoding` (string or object, default `'utf8'`): encoding to use for keys
 - `valueEncoding` (string or object, default `'utf8'`): encoding to use for values.
 
@@ -1313,10 +1313,6 @@ Data could not be read (from an underlying store) due to a corruption.
 
 Data could not be read (from an underlying store) due to an input/output error, for example from the filesystem.
 
-#### `LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX`
-
-When a sublevel prefix contains characters outside of the supported byte range.
-
 #### `LEVEL_NOT_SUPPORTED`
 
 When a module needs a certain feature, typically as indicated by `db.supports`, but that feature is not available on a database argument or other. For example, some kind of plugin may depend on snapshots:
diff --git a/lib/abstract-sublevel.js b/lib/abstract-sublevel.js
index 6b102b1..ee54c8c 100644
--- a/lib/abstract-sublevel.js
+++ b/lib/abstract-sublevel.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 'use strict'
 
-const ModuleError = require('module-error')
 const { Buffer } = require('buffer') || {}
 const {
   AbstractSublevelIterator,
@@ -38,18 +37,11 @@ module.exports = function ({ AbstractLevel }) {
       const { separator, manifest, ...forward } = AbstractSublevel.defaults(options)
       const names = [].concat(name).map(name => trim(name, separator))
 
-      // Reserve one character between separator and name to give us an upper bound
+      // Reserve one character between separator and name to give us an upper bound, by
+      // default '"'. Keys should sort like ['!a!', '!a!!a!', '!a"', '!aa!', '!b!']
       const reserved = separator.charCodeAt(0) + 1
       const root = db[kRoot] || db
 
-      // Keys should sort like ['!a!', '!a!!a!', '!a"', '!aa!', '!b!'].
-      // Use ASCII for consistent length between string, Buffer and Uint8Array
-      if (!names.every(name => textEncoder.encode(name).every(x => x > reserved && x < 127))) {
-        throw new ModuleError(`Sublevel name must use bytes > ${reserved} < ${127}`, {
-          code: 'LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX'
-        })
-      }
-
       super(mergeManifests(db, manifest), forward)
 
       const localPrefix = names.map(name => separator + name + separator).join('')
@@ -179,14 +171,22 @@ module.exports = function ({ AbstractLevel }) {
       // TODO (refactor): move to AbstractLevel
       this.#prefixRange(options, options.keyEncoding)
       const iterator = this[kRoot].iterator(options)
-      const unfix = this.#unfix.get(this.#globalPrefix.utf8.length, options.keyEncoding)
+      const unfix = this.#unfix.get(
+        this.#globalPrefix.utf8.length,
+        this.#globalPrefix.view.byteLength,
+        options.keyEncoding
+      )
       return new AbstractSublevelIterator(this, options, iterator, unfix)
     }
 
     _keys (options) {
       this.#prefixRange(options, options.keyEncoding)
       const iterator = this[kRoot].keys(options)
-      const unfix = this.#unfix.get(this.#globalPrefix.utf8.length, options.keyEncoding)
+      const unfix = this.#unfix.get(
+        this.#globalPrefix.utf8.length,
+        this.#globalPrefix.view.byteLength,
+        options.keyEncoding
+      )
       return new AbstractSublevelKeyIterator(this, options, iterator, unfix)
     }
 
@@ -252,20 +252,24 @@ class Unfixer {
     this.cache = new Map()
   }
 
-  get (prefixLength, keyFormat) {
+  get (stringLength, byteLength, keyFormat) {
     let unfix = this.cache.get(keyFormat)
 
     if (unfix === undefined) {
       if (keyFormat === 'view') {
-        unfix = function (prefixLength, key) {
+        unfix = function (byteLength, key) {
           // Avoid Uint8Array#slice() because it copies
-          return key.subarray(prefixLength)
-        }.bind(null, prefixLength)
+          return key.subarray(byteLength)
+        }.bind(null, byteLength)
+      } else if (keyFormat === 'utf8') {
+        unfix = function (stringLength, key) {
+          return key.slice(stringLength)
+        }.bind(null, stringLength)
       } else {
-        unfix = function (prefixLength, key) {
+        unfix = function (byteLength, key) {
           // Avoid Buffer#subarray() because it's slow
-          return key.slice(prefixLength)
-        }.bind(null, prefixLength)
+          return key.slice(byteLength)
+        }.bind(null, byteLength)
       }
 
       this.cache.set(keyFormat, unfix)
diff --git a/test/self/sublevel-test.js b/test/self/sublevel-test.js
index 9ec4a4a..6dbb77d 100644
--- a/test/self/sublevel-test.js
+++ b/test/self/sublevel-test.js
@@ -175,15 +175,6 @@ test('sublevel name and options', function (t) {
     t.end()
   })
 
-  t.test('invalid sublevel prefix', function (t) {
-    t.throws(() => new NoopLevel().sublevel('foo\x05'), (err) => err.code === 'LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX')
-    t.throws(() => new NoopLevel().sublevel('foo\xff'), (err) => err.code === 'LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX')
-    t.throws(() => new NoopLevel().sublevel(['ok', 'foo\xff']), (err) => err.code === 'LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX')
-    t.throws(() => new NoopLevel().sublevel('foo!', { separator: '@' }), (err) => err.code === 'LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX')
-    t.throws(() => new NoopLevel().sublevel(['ok', 'foo!'], { separator: '@' }), (err) => err.code === 'LEVEL_INVALID_PREFIX')
-    t.end()
-  })
-
   // See https://github.com/Level/subleveldown/issues/78
   t.test('doubly nested sublevel has correct prefix', async function (t) {
     t.plan(1)
diff --git a/test/sublevel-test.js b/test/sublevel-test.js
index 7fc7336..8df084f 100644
--- a/test/sublevel-test.js
+++ b/test/sublevel-test.js
@@ -206,4 +206,20 @@ exports.all = function (test, testCommon) {
       })
     }
   }
+
+  test('sublevel name with unicode', async function (t) {
+    const db = testCommon.factory()
+    const name = '🐄'
+    const sub = db.sublevel(name)
+
+    // To illustrate why this test matters. We would remove too many
+    // characters from the prefixed key if we use the wrong length.
+    t.is(name.length, 2)
+    t.is(new TextEncoder().encode(name).byteLength, 4)
+
+    await sub.put('a', 'a')
+    t.same(await sub.keys().all(), ['a'], 'correctly removed prefix')
+
+    return db.close()
+  })
 }