diff --git a/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncoding.java b/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncoding.java
index 0c10e47c..71cea15d 100644
--- a/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncoding.java
+++ b/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncoding.java
@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@
 
 import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.URLEncoder;
-
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.CharUtils;
+import java.util.Objects;
 
 /**
  * A text encoding/escaping helper. Always encodes to printable ASCII
@@ -98,13 +97,12 @@ public static String encode(TextEncoding encoding, String str) {
      */
     public static String encodeAscii(String str, boolean linebreaks) {
         StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
-        for (int i = 0; str != null && i < str.length(); i ++) {
-            char c = str.charAt(i);
+        Objects.requireNonNullElse(str, "").chars().forEach(c -> {
             buffer.append(switch (c) {
-                case '\n', '\r' -> linebreaks ? c : ' ';
-                default -> CharUtils.isAsciiPrintable(c) ? c : ' ';
+                case '\n', '\r' -> linebreaks ? (char) c : ' ';
+                default -> (32 <= c && c < 127) ? (char) c : ' ';
             });
-        }
+        });
         return buffer.toString();
     }
 
@@ -122,40 +120,18 @@ public static String encodeAscii(String str, boolean linebreaks) {
      */
     public static String encodeProperty(String str, boolean linebreaks) {
         StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
-        for (int i = 0; str != null && i < str.length(); i ++) {
-            char c = str.charAt(i);
-            switch (c) {
-            case '\\':
-                buffer.append("\\\\");
-                break;
-            case '\t':
-                buffer.append("\\t");
-                break;
-            case ' ':
-                if (buffer.lastIndexOf("\n") == buffer.length() - 1) {
-                    buffer.append("\\");
-                }
-                buffer.append(" ");
-                break;
-            case '\n':
-                buffer.append("\\n");
-                if (linebreaks) {
-                    buffer.append("\\\n");
-                }
-                break;
-            case '\r':
-                if (!linebreaks) {
-                    buffer.append("\\r");
-                }
-                break;
-            default:
-                if (CharUtils.isAsciiPrintable(c)) {
-                    buffer.append(c);
-                } else {
-                    buffer.append(String.format("\\u%04x", Integer.valueOf(c)));
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        Objects.requireNonNullElse(str, "").chars().forEach(c -> {
+            int len = buffer.length();
+            boolean initial = len == 0 || buffer.charAt(len - 1) == '\n';
+            buffer.append(switch (c) {
+                case '\\' -> "\\\\";
+                case '\t' -> "\\t";
+                case ' ' -> initial ? "\\ " : " ";
+                case '\n' -> linebreaks ? "\\n\\\n" : "\\n";
+                case '\r' -> linebreaks ? "" : "\\r";
+                default -> (32 <= c && c < 127) ? (char) c : String.format("\\u%04x", c);
+            });
+        });
         return buffer.toString();
     }
 
@@ -170,32 +146,16 @@ public static String encodeProperty(String str, boolean linebreaks) {
      */
     public static String encodeJson(String str) {
         StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
-        for (int i = 0; str != null && i < str.length(); i++) {
-            char c = str.charAt(i);
-            switch (c) {
-            case '\\':
-                buffer.append("\\\\");
-                break;
-            case '\"':
-                buffer.append("\\\"");
-                break;
-            case '\t':
-                buffer.append("\\t");
-                break;
-            case '\n':
-                buffer.append("\\n");
-                break;
-            case '\r':
-                buffer.append("\\r");
-                break;
-            default:
-                if (32 <= c && c < 127) {
-                    buffer.append(c);
-                } else {
-                    buffer.append(String.format("\\u%04x", Integer.valueOf(c)));
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        Objects.requireNonNullElse(str, "").chars().forEach(c -> {
+            buffer.append(switch (c) {
+                case '\\' -> "\\\\";
+                case '\"' -> "\\\"";
+                case '\t' -> "\\t";
+                case '\n' -> "\\n";
+                case '\r' -> "\\r";
+                default -> (32 <= c && c < 127) ? (char) c : String.format("\\u%04x", c);
+            });
+        });
         return buffer.toString();
     }
 
@@ -230,37 +190,17 @@ public static String encodeJsonString(String str) {
      */
     public static String encodeXml(String str, boolean linebreaks) {
         StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
-        for (int i = 0; str != null && i < str.length(); i ++) {
-            char c = str.charAt(i);
-            switch (c) {
-            case '<':
-                buffer.append("&lt;");
-                break;
-            case '>':
-                buffer.append("&gt;");
-                break;
-            case '&':
-                buffer.append("&amp;");
-                break;
-            case '"':
-                buffer.append("&quot;");
-                break;
-            case '\n':
-                buffer.append(linebreaks ? "\n" : "&#10;");
-                break;
-            case '\r':
-                buffer.append(linebreaks ? "\r" : "&#13;");
-                break;
-            default:
-                if (CharUtils.isAsciiPrintable(c)) {
-                    buffer.append(c);
-                } else {
-                    buffer.append("&#");
-                    buffer.append(String.valueOf((int) c));
-                    buffer.append(";");
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        Objects.requireNonNullElse(str, "").codePoints().forEach(c -> {
+            buffer.append(switch (c) {
+                case '<' -> "&lt;";
+                case '>' -> "&gt;";
+                case '&' -> "&amp;";
+                case '"' -> "&quot;";
+                case '\n' -> linebreaks ? "\n" : "&#10;";
+                case '\r' -> linebreaks ? "\r" : "&#13;";
+                default -> (32 <= c && c < 127) ? (char) c : String.format("&#%d;", c);
+            });
+        });
         return buffer.toString();
     }
 
diff --git a/test/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncodingTest.java b/test/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncodingTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d3a624ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/src/java/org/rapidcontext/core/data/TextEncodingTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package org.rapidcontext.core.data;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for the TextEncoding helper methods.
+ */
+@SuppressWarnings("javadoc")
+public class TextEncodingTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEncodeProperty() {
+        assertEquals("", TextEncoding.encodeProperty(null, true));
+        assertEquals("\\ \\t\\n\\\n\\ ", TextEncoding.encodeProperty(" \t\r\n ", true));
+        assertEquals("\\ \\t\\r\\n ", TextEncoding.encodeProperty(" \t\r\n ", false));
+        assertEquals("\\\\", TextEncoding.encodeProperty("\\", true));
+        assertEquals("abc123", TextEncoding.encodeProperty("abc123", true));
+        assertEquals("\\u00e5\\u00e4\\u00f6", TextEncoding.encodeProperty("\u00E5\u00E4\u00F6", true));
+        assertEquals("emoji", "\\ud83e\\udd16", TextEncoding.encodeProperty("\uD83E\uDD16", true));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEncodeJson() {
+        assertEquals("", TextEncoding.encodeJson(null));
+        assertEquals(" \\t\\r\\n", TextEncoding.encodeJson(" \t\r\n"));
+        assertEquals("\\\\\\\"'", TextEncoding.encodeJson("\\\"'"));
+        assertEquals("abc123", TextEncoding.encodeJson("abc123"));
+        assertEquals("\\u00e5\\u00e4\\u00f6", TextEncoding.encodeJson("\u00E5\u00E4\u00F6"));
+        assertEquals("emoji", "\\ud83e\\udd16", TextEncoding.encodeJson("\uD83E\uDD16"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testEncodeXml() {
+        assertEquals("", TextEncoding.encodeXml(null, true));
+        assertEquals("\r\n", TextEncoding.encodeXml("\r\n", true));
+        assertEquals("&#13;&#10;", TextEncoding.encodeXml("\r\n", false));
+        assertEquals("&lt;&gt;&amp;&quot;'", TextEncoding.encodeXml("<>&\"'", true));
+        assertEquals("abc123", TextEncoding.encodeXml("abc123", true));
+        assertEquals("&#229;&#228;&#246;", TextEncoding.encodeXml("\u00E5\u00E4\u00F6", true));
+        assertEquals("emoji", "&#129302;", TextEncoding.encodeXml("\uD83E\uDD16", true));
+    }
+}