diff --git a/parso/utils.py b/parso/utils.py
index dfc98c8..579c4cc 100644
--- a/parso/utils.py
+++ b/parso/utils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,20 @@ from ast import literal_eval
 
 from parso._compatibility import unicode, total_ordering
 
+# The following is a list in Python that are line breaks in str.splitlines, but
+# not in Python. In Python only \r (Carriage Return, 0xD) and \n (Line Feed,
+# 0xA) are allowed to split lines.
+_NON_LINE_BREAKS = (
+    u'\v',  # Vertical Tabulation 0xB
+    u'\f',  # Form Feed 0xC
+    u'\x1C',  # File Separator
+    u'\x1D',  # Group Separator
+    u'\x1E',  # Record Separator
+    u'\x85',  # Next Line (NEL - Equivalent to CR+LF.
+              # Used to mark end-of-line on some IBM mainframes.)
+    u'\u2028',  # Line Separator
+    u'\u2029',  # Paragraph Separator
+)
 
 Version = namedtuple('Version', 'major, minor, micro')
 
@@ -26,8 +40,13 @@ def split_lines(string, keepends=False):
         # We have to merge lines that were broken by form feed characters.
         merge = []
         for i, line in enumerate(lst):
-            if line.endswith('\f'):
-                merge.append(i)
+            try:
+                last_chr = line[-1]
+            except IndexError:
+                pass
+            else:
+                if last_chr in _NON_LINE_BREAKS:
+                    merge.append(i)
 
         for index in reversed(merge):
             try:
diff --git a/test/test_diff_parser.py b/test/test_diff_parser.py
index f90c1c1..172e3df 100644
--- a/test/test_diff_parser.py
+++ b/test/test_diff_parser.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from textwrap import dedent
 import logging
 
@@ -952,3 +953,9 @@ def test_wrong_backslash(differ):
     differ.initialize(code1)
     differ.parse(code2, parsers=2, copies=2, expect_error_leaves=True)
     differ.parse(code1, parsers=1, copies=1)
+
+
+def test_random_unicode_characters(differ):
+    differ.initialize('')
+    differ.parse('\x1dĔBϞɛˁşʑ˳˻ȣſéÎ\x90̕ȟòwʘ\x1dĔBϞɛˁşʑ˳˻ȣſéÎ', parsers=1, expect_error_leaves=True)
+    differ.parse('')
diff --git a/test/test_utils.py b/test/test_utils.py
index ea32589..3078151 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_utils.py
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ import pytest
 
         ('\r', ['', ''], False),
         ('\r', ['\r', ''], True),
+
+        # Invalid line breaks
+        ('a\vb', ['a\vb'], False),
+        ('a\vb', ['a\vb'], True),
+        ('\x1C', ['\x1C'], False),
+        ('\x1C', ['\x1C'], True),
     ]
 )
 def test_split_lines(string, expected_result, keepends):