diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 5f3983eb..9efdd8d0 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 	  on the FreeBSD console for the accelerator key access
 	  (Console switching is still possible with 
 	   Ctrl-Alt-F1 through Ctrl-Alt-F8)
+	* Avoid non-printable ASCII codes < 0x1c on a FreeBSD console
 
 2017-03-30  Markus Gans  <guru.mail@muenster.de>
 	* Fixed bug: termcap "me" does not reset 
diff --git a/src/fterm.cpp b/src/fterm.cpp
index 9a3cdeda..a64854c8 100644
--- a/src/fterm.cpp
+++ b/src/fterm.cpp
@@ -1625,6 +1625,21 @@ void FTerm::initLinuxConsoleCharMap()
 }
 #endif
 
+#if defined(BSD)
+//----------------------------------------------------------------------
+void FTerm::initBSDConsoleCharMap()
+{
+  // A FreeBSD console can't show ASCII codes from 0x00 to 0x1b
+
+  if ( ! isBSDConsole() )
+    return;
+
+  for (int i=0; i <= lastCharItem; i++ )
+    if ( character[i][fc::PC] < 0x1c )
+      character[i][fc::PC] = character[i][fc::ASCII];
+}
+#endif
+
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------
 bool FTerm::charEncodable (uInt c)
 {
@@ -2749,22 +2764,29 @@ void FTerm::init_termcaps()
     status = tgetent(term_buffer, termtype);
   }
 
+  if ( status != success && color256 )
+  {
+    // use "xterm-256color" as fallback if not found
+    std::strncpy (termtype, const_cast<char*>("xterm-256color"), 15);
+    status = tgetent(term_buffer, termtype);
+  }
+
   if ( status != success )
   {
-    // use xterm as fallback if not found
+    // use "xterm" as fallback if not found
     std::strncpy (termtype, const_cast<char*>("xterm"), 6);
     status = tgetent(term_buffer, termtype);
 
     if ( status != success )
     {
-      // use ansi as fallback if not found
+      // use "ansi" as fallback if not found
       std::strncpy (termtype, const_cast<char*>("ansi"), 5);
       status = tgetent(term_buffer, termtype);
       ansi_terminal = true;
 
       if ( status != success )
       {
-        // use vt100 as fallback if not found
+        // use "vt100" as fallback if not found
         std::strncpy (termtype, const_cast<char*>("vt100"), 6);
         status = tgetent(term_buffer, termtype);
         ansi_terminal = false;
diff --git a/src/fterm.h b/src/fterm.h
index f3e50fff..98bc4d0e 100644
--- a/src/fterm.h
+++ b/src/fterm.h
@@ -257,6 +257,10 @@ class FTerm
    static void           initLinuxConsoleCharMap();
 #endif
 
+#if defined(BSD)
+   static void           initBSDConsoleCharMap();
+#endif
+
    static bool           charEncodable (uInt);
    static uInt           charEncode (uInt);
    static uInt           charEncode (uInt, fc::encoding);
diff --git a/src/fwidget.cpp b/src/fwidget.cpp
index 476791b8..f0cbf676 100644
--- a/src/fwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/fwidget.cpp
@@ -1163,6 +1163,10 @@ void FWidget::show()
     initLinuxConsoleCharMap();
 #endif
 
+#if defined(BSD)
+    initBSDConsoleCharMap();
+#endif
+
     // set xterm underline cursor
     setXTermCursorStyle(fc::blinking_underline);