diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 3a640448f..bc573f481 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -836,11 +836,15 @@ static const char *copy_email(const char *buf)
 static char *copy_subject(const char *buf, unsigned long len)
 {
 	char *r = xmemdupz(buf, len);
-	int i;
+	int i, j;
 
-	for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+	for (i = 0, j = 0; i < len; i++, j++)
 		if (r[i] == '\n')
-			r[i] = ' ';
+			r[j] = ' ';
+		else if (r[i] < 32)
+                    j--; // skip ascii control characters that are not '\n'
+                else r[j] = r[i];
+        r[j]=0;
 
 	return r;
 }
@@ -956,9 +960,12 @@ static void find_subpos(const char *buf, unsigned long sz,
 			eol++;
 		buf = eol;
 	}
+
 	/* skip any empty lines */
 	while (*buf == '\n')
 		buf++;
+	while (*buf == '\r' && *(buf+1) == '\n')
+		buf += 2;
 
 	/* parse signature first; we might not even have a subject line */
 	*sig = buf + parse_signature(buf, strlen(buf));