diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
index 54f2b969..86f386db 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ void String::prepare(Type t)
   switch(t) {
   case UTF16:
   {
-    if(d->data.size() > 1) {
+    if(d->data.size() >= 1 && (d->data[0] == 0xfeff || d->data[0] == 0xfffe)) {
       bool swap = d->data[0] != 0xfeff;
       d->data.erase(d->data.begin(), d->data.begin() + 1);
       if(swap) {
diff --git a/tests/test_id3v2.cpp b/tests/test_id3v2.cpp
index 4ccdc9af..ed5e0b00 100644
--- a/tests/test_id3v2.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_id3v2.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <generalencapsulatedobjectframe.h>
 #include <relativevolumeframe.h>
 #include <urllinkframe.h>
+#include "utils.h"
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace TagLib;
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ class TestID3v2 : public CppUnit::TestFixture
   CPPUNIT_TEST(testRenderUrlLinkFrame);
   CPPUNIT_TEST(testParseUserUrlLinkFrame);
   CPPUNIT_TEST(testRenderUserUrlLinkFrame);
+  CPPUNIT_TEST(testSaveUTF16Comment);
   CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_END();
 
 public:
@@ -243,6 +245,21 @@ public:
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String("Sunshine Superman"), f.ID3v2Tag()->frameListMap()["TIT2"].front()->toString());
   }
 
+  void testSaveUTF16Comment()
+  {
+    String::Type defaultEncoding = ID3v2::FrameFactory::instance()->defaultTextEncoding();
+    string newname = copyFile("xing", ".mp3");
+    ID3v2::FrameFactory::instance()->setDefaultTextEncoding(String::UTF16);
+    MPEG::File foo(newname.c_str());
+    foo.strip();
+    foo.tag()->setComment("Test comment!");
+    foo.save();
+    MPEG::File bar(newname.c_str());
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String("Test comment!"), bar.tag()->comment());
+    deleteFile(newname);
+    ID3v2::FrameFactory::instance()->setDefaultTextEncoding(defaultEncoding);
+  }
+
 };
 
 CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_REGISTRATION(TestID3v2);
diff --git a/tests/test_string.cpp b/tests/test_string.cpp
index 333a4180..ab331c89 100644
--- a/tests/test_string.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_string.cpp
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ class TestString : public CppUnit::TestFixture
   CPPUNIT_TEST(testString);
   CPPUNIT_TEST(testUTF16Encode);
   CPPUNIT_TEST(testUTF16Decode);
+  CPPUNIT_TEST(testUTF16DecodeInvalidBOM);
+  CPPUNIT_TEST(testUTF16DecodeEmptyWithBOM);
   CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_END();
 
 public:
@@ -108,6 +110,26 @@ public:
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(a, String(d, String::UTF16));
   }
 
+  // this test is expected to print "TagLib: String::prepare() -
+  // Invalid UTF16 string." on the console 3 times
+  void testUTF16DecodeInvalidBOM()
+  {
+    ByteVector b(" ", 1);
+    ByteVector c("  ", 2);
+    ByteVector d("  \0f\0o\0o", 8);
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String(), String(b, String::UTF16));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String(), String(c, String::UTF16));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String(), String(d, String::UTF16));
+  }
+
+  void testUTF16DecodeEmptyWithBOM()
+  {
+    ByteVector a("\377\376", 2);
+    ByteVector b("\376\377", 2);
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String(), String(a, String::UTF16));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(String(), String(b, String::UTF16));
+  }
+
 };
 
 CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_REGISTRATION(TestString);