diff --git a/Gruntfile.js b/Gruntfile.js
index f2a0c0cd0a..ee2fe596c4 100644
--- a/Gruntfile.js
+++ b/Gruntfile.js
@@ -399,6 +399,9 @@ module.exports = function(grunt) {
 			}
 		},
 		uglify: {
+			options: {
+				ASCIIOnly: true
+			},
 			core: {
 				expand: true,
 				cwd: SOURCE_DIR,
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js b/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
index 40c2934b9e..0740bb6ef1 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
+++ b/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
@@ -14,7 +14,42 @@
 	WordCounter.prototype.settings = {
 		HTMLRegExp: /<\/?[a-z][^>]*?>/gi,
 		spaceRegExp: /&nbsp;|&#160;/gi,
-		removeRegExp: /[0-9.(),;:!?%#$¿'"_+=\\\/-]+/g,
+		connectorRegExp: /--|\u2014/gi,
+		removeRegExp: new RegExp( [
+			'[',
+				// Basic Latin (extract)
+				'\u0021-\u0040\u005B-\u0060\u007B-\u007E',
+				// Latin-1 Supplement (extract)
+				'\u0080-\u00BF\u00D7\u00F7',
+				// General Punctuation
+				// Superscripts and Subscripts
+				// Currency Symbols
+				// Combining Diacritical Marks for Symbols
+				// Letterlike Symbols
+				// Number Forms
+				// Arrows
+				// Mathematical Operators
+				// Miscellaneous Technical
+				// Control Pictures
+				// Optical Character Recognition
+				// Enclosed Alphanumerics
+				// Box Drawing
+				// Block Elements
+				// Geometric Shapes
+				// Miscellaneous Symbols
+				// Dingbats
+				// Miscellaneous Mathematical Symbols-A
+				// Supplemental Arrows-A
+				// Braille Patterns
+				// Supplemental Arrows-B
+				// Miscellaneous Mathematical Symbols-B
+				// Supplemental Mathematical Operators
+				// Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows
+				'\u2000-\u2BFF',
+				// Supplemental Punctuation
+				'\u2E00-\u2E7F',
+			']'
+		].join( '' ), 'g' ),
 		wordsRegExp: /\S\s+/g,
 		charactersRegExp: /\S/g,
 		allRegExp: /[^\f\n\r\t\v\u00ad\u2028\u2029]/g,
@@ -31,7 +66,11 @@
 
 			text = text.replace( this.settings.HTMLRegExp, '\n' );
 			text = text.replace( this.settings.spaceRegExp, ' ' );
-			text = text.replace( this.settings.removeRegExp, '' );
+
+			if ( type === 'words' ) {
+				text = text.replace( this.settings.connectorRegExp, ' ' );
+				text = text.replace( this.settings.removeRegExp, '' );
+			}
 
 			text = text.match( this.settings[ type + 'RegExp' ] );
 
diff --git a/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js b/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
index 5d3664f583..c3c147d913 100644
--- a/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
+++ b/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
@@ -33,9 +33,16 @@
 			},
 			{
 				message: 'Punctuation.',
-				string: 'It\'s two three... 4?',
+				string: 'It\'s two three \u2026 4?',
 				words: 3,
-				characters: 11,
+				characters: 15,
+				all: 19
+			},
+			{
+				message: 'Em dash.',
+				string: 'one\u2014two--three',
+				words: 3,
+				characters: 14,
 				all: 14
 			}
 		], function( test ) {