diff --git a/contrib/elftoolchain/strings/strings.c b/contrib/elftoolchain/strings/strings.c
index b4121051676..f5bcebb8145 100644
--- a/contrib/elftoolchain/strings/strings.c
+++ b/contrib/elftoolchain/strings/strings.c
@@ -402,13 +402,13 @@ find_strings(const char *name, FILE *pfile, off_t offset, off_t size)
 					break;
 				c = getcharacter(pfile);
 				cur_off += encoding_size;
+				if (!PRINTABLE(c) || c == EOF)
+					break;
 				if (encoding == ENCODING_8BIT &&
 				    (uint8_t)c > 127) {
 					putchar(c);
 					continue;
 				}
-				if (!PRINTABLE(c) || c == EOF)
-					break;
 				putchar(c);
 			}
 			putchar('\n');