$ perl -le' $_ = "\xc2\xa0"; print /^\h$/ ? "h" : "not h"; ' not h #### $ perl -le' $_ = "\xA0"; utf8::downgrade $_; print /^\s$/ ? "s" : "not s"; print /^\h$/ ? "h" : "not h"; utf8::upgrade $_; print /^\s$/ ? "s" : "not s"; print /^\h$/ ? "h" : "not h"; ' not s h s h