diff --git a/src/pkg/scanner/scanner.go b/src/pkg/scanner/scanner.go
index 8fbcb9c115..29e5f8c742 100644
--- a/src/pkg/scanner/scanner.go
+++ b/src/pkg/scanner/scanner.go
@@ -164,9 +164,12 @@ type Scanner struct {
 	// for values ch > ' '). The field may be changed at any time.
 	Whitespace uint64
 
-	// Current token position. The Offset, Line, and Column fields
-	// are set by Scan(); the Filename field is left untouched by the
-	// Scanner.
+	// Start position of most recently scanned token; set by Scan.
+	// Calling Init or Next invalidates the position (Line == 0).
+	// The Filename field is always left untouched by the Scanner.
+	// If an error is reported (via Error) and Position is invalid,
+	// the scanner is not inside a token. Call Pos to obtain an error
+	// position in that case.
 	Position
 }
 
@@ -201,6 +204,7 @@ func (s *Scanner) Init(src io.Reader) *Scanner {
 	s.ErrorCount = 0
 	s.Mode = GoTokens
 	s.Whitespace = GoWhitespace
+	s.Line = 0 // invalidate token position
 
 	return s
 }
@@ -302,6 +306,7 @@ func (s *Scanner) next() int {
 // get the current position.
 func (s *Scanner) Next() int {
 	s.tokPos = -1 // don't collect token text
+	s.Line = 0    // invalidate token position
 	ch := s.Peek()
 	s.ch = s.next()
 	return ch
@@ -323,7 +328,11 @@ func (s *Scanner) error(msg string) {
 		s.Error(s, msg)
 		return
 	}
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s: %s\n", s.Position, msg)
+	pos := s.Position
+	if !pos.IsValid() {
+		pos = s.Pos()
+	}
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s: %s\n", pos, msg)
 }
 
 func (s *Scanner) scanIdentifier() int {
@@ -520,6 +529,7 @@ func (s *Scanner) Scan() int {
 
 	// reset token text position
 	s.tokPos = -1
+	s.Line = 0
 
 redo:
 	// skip white space
diff --git a/src/pkg/scanner/scanner_test.go b/src/pkg/scanner/scanner_test.go
index 8403d61535..bbbba12834 100644
--- a/src/pkg/scanner/scanner_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/scanner/scanner_test.go
@@ -100,11 +100,8 @@ var tokenList = []token{
 	{Ident, "_abc_123_"},
 	{Ident, "_äöü"},
 	{Ident, "_本"},
-	// TODO for unknown reasons these fail when checking the literals
-	/*
-		token{Ident, "äöü"},
-		token{Ident, "本"},
-	*/
+	{Ident, "äöü"},
+	{Ident, "本"},
 	{Ident, "a۰۱۸"},
 	{Ident, "foo६४"},
 	{Ident, "bar９８７６"},
@@ -365,14 +362,14 @@ func TestScanNext(t *testing.T) {
 	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Scan(), Ident, "if")
 	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Scan(), Ident, "a")
 	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Scan(), '=', "=")
-	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Next(), '=', "")
-	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Next(), ' ', "")
-	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Next(), 'b', "")
+	checkTok(t, s, 0, s.Next(), '=', "")
+	checkTok(t, s, 0, s.Next(), ' ', "")
+	checkTok(t, s, 0, s.Next(), 'b', "")
 	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Scan(), Ident, "cd")
 	checkTok(t, s, 1, s.Scan(), '{', "{")
 	checkTok(t, s, 2, s.Scan(), Ident, "a")
 	checkTok(t, s, 2, s.Scan(), '+', "+")
-	checkTok(t, s, 2, s.Next(), '=', "")
+	checkTok(t, s, 0, s.Next(), '=', "")
 	checkTok(t, s, 2, s.Scan(), Ident, "c")
 	checkTok(t, s, 3, s.Scan(), '}', "}")
 	checkTok(t, s, 3, s.Scan(), -1, "")