diff --git a/src/uu/tr/locales/en-US.ftl b/src/uu/tr/locales/en-US.ftl
index 0f1fc38a9..087436847 100644
--- a/src/uu/tr/locales/en-US.ftl
+++ b/src/uu/tr/locales/en-US.ftl
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ tr-error-write-error = write error
 # Warning messages
 tr-warning-unescaped-backslash = warning: an unescaped backslash at end of string is not portable
 tr-warning-ambiguous-octal-escape = the ambiguous octal escape \{ $origin_octal } is being interpreted as the 2-byte sequence \0{ $actual_octal_tail }, { $outstand_char }
+tr-warning-invalid-utf8 = invalid utf8 sequence
 
 # Sequence parsing error messages
 tr-error-missing-char-class-name = missing character class name '[::]'
diff --git a/src/uu/tr/locales/fr-FR.ftl b/src/uu/tr/locales/fr-FR.ftl
index e8af47a0d..075b4a447 100644
--- a/src/uu/tr/locales/fr-FR.ftl
+++ b/src/uu/tr/locales/fr-FR.ftl
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ tr-error-write-error = erreur d'écriture
 tr-warning-unescaped-backslash = avertissement : une barre oblique inverse non échappée à la fin de la chaîne n'est pas portable
 tr-warning-ambiguous-octal-escape = l'échappement octal ambigu \{ $origin_octal } est en cours
   d'interprétation comme la séquence de 2 octets \0{ $actual_octal_tail }, { $outstand_char }
+tr-warning-invalid-utf8 = séquence UTF-8 non valide
 
 # Messages d'erreur d'analyse de séquence
 tr-error-missing-char-class-name = nom de classe de caractères manquant '[::]'
diff --git a/src/uu/tr/src/operation.rs b/src/uu/tr/src/operation.rs
index e2ba2bd83..a9d1f5287 100644
--- a/src/uu/tr/src/operation.rs
+++ b/src/uu/tr/src/operation.rs
@@ -379,13 +379,16 @@ impl Sequence {
                 let str_to_parse = std::str::from_utf8(out).unwrap();
                 let result = u8::from_str_radix(str_to_parse, 8).ok();
                 if result.is_none() {
-                    let origin_octal: &str = std::str::from_utf8(input).unwrap();
-                    let actual_octal_tail: &str = std::str::from_utf8(&input[0..2]).unwrap();
-                    let outstand_char: char = char::from_u32(input[2] as u32).unwrap();
-                    show_warning!(
-                        "{}",
-                        translate!("tr-warning-ambiguous-octal-escape", "origin_octal" => origin_octal, "actual_octal_tail" => actual_octal_tail, "outstand_char" => outstand_char)
-                    );
+                    if let Ok(origin_octal) = std::str::from_utf8(input) {
+                        let actual_octal_tail: &str = std::str::from_utf8(&input[0..2]).unwrap();
+                        let outstand_char: char = char::from_u32(input[2] as u32).unwrap();
+                        show_warning!(
+                            "{}",
+                            translate!("tr-warning-ambiguous-octal-escape", "origin_octal" => origin_octal, "actual_octal_tail" => actual_octal_tail, "outstand_char" => outstand_char)
+                        );
+                    } else {
+                        show_warning!("{}", translate!("tr-warning-invalid-utf8"));
+                    }
                 }
                 result
             },
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_tr.rs b/tests/by-util/test_tr.rs
index 491fd64ee..4a7c266b9 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_tr.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_tr.rs
@@ -1544,6 +1544,30 @@ fn test_non_digit_repeat() {
         .stderr_only("tr: invalid repeat count 'c' in [c*n] construct\n");
 }
 
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn test_octal_escape_ambiguous_followed_by_non_utf8() {
+    // This case does not trigger the panic
+    let set1 = OsStr::from_bytes(b"\\501a");
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("-d")
+        .arg(set1)
+        .pipe_in("(1a)")
+        .succeeds()
+        .stderr_contains("warning: the ambiguous octal escape")
+        .stdout_is(")");
+
+    // An user is not supposed to use this invalid utf8 set but
+    // we would need to make the command more error-proof still
+    let set1 = OsStr::from_bytes(b"\\501\xff");
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("-d")
+        .arg(set1)
+        .pipe_in([b'(', b'1', 0xff, b')'])
+        .succeeds()
+        .stderr_contains("warning: invalid utf8 sequence");
+}
+
 #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
 #[test]
 fn test_failed_write_is_reported() {