diff --git a/Include/unicodeobject.h b/Include/unicodeobject.h
index 988ea1b39ec8..f91a5a0c8c7f 100644
--- a/Include/unicodeobject.h
+++ b/Include/unicodeobject.h
@@ -459,10 +459,11 @@ extern DL_IMPORT(PyObject*) PyUnicode_EncodeUTF8(
 	*byteorder == 0:  native order
 	*byteorder == 1:  big endian
 
-   and then switches according to all BOM marks it finds in the input
-   data. BOM marks are not copied into the resulting Unicode string.
-   After completion, *byteorder is set to the current byte order at
-   the end of input data.
+   In native mode, the first two bytes of the stream are checked for a
+   BOM mark. If found, the BOM mark is analysed, the byte order
+   adjusted and the BOM skipped.  In the other modes, no BOM mark
+   interpretation is done. After completion, *byteorder is set to the
+   current byte order at the end of input data.
 
    If byteorder is NULL, the codec starts in native order mode.
 
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index 475215c25f20..d55e2a72e206 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -1001,31 +1001,39 @@ PyObject *PyUnicode_DecodeUTF16(const char *s,
     if (byteorder)
 	bo = *byteorder;
 
+    /* Check for BOM marks (U+FEFF) in the input and adjust current
+       byte order setting accordingly. In native mode, the leading BOM
+       mark is skipped, in all other modes, it is copied to the output
+       stream as-is (giving a ZWNBSP character). */
+    if (bo == 0) {
+#ifdef BYTEORDER_IS_LITTLE_ENDIAN
+	if (*q == 0xFEFF) {
+	    q++;
+	    bo = -1;
+	} else if (*q == 0xFFFE) {
+	    q++;
+	    bo = 1;
+	}
+#else    
+	if (*q == 0xFEFF) {
+	    q++;
+	    bo = 1;
+	} else if (*q == 0xFFFE) {
+	    q++;
+	    bo = -1;
+	}
+#endif
+    }
+    
     while (q < e) {
 	register Py_UNICODE ch = *q++;
 
-	/* Check for BOM marks (U+FEFF) in the input and adjust
-	   current byte order setting accordingly. Swap input
-	   bytes if needed. (This assumes sizeof(Py_UNICODE) == 2
-	   !) */
+	/* Swap input bytes if needed. (This assumes
+	   sizeof(Py_UNICODE) == 2 !) */
 #ifdef BYTEORDER_IS_LITTLE_ENDIAN
-	if (ch == 0xFEFF) {
-	    bo = -1;
-	    continue;
-	} else if (ch == 0xFFFE) {
-	    bo = 1;
-	    continue;
-	}
 	if (bo == 1)
 	    ch = (ch >> 8) | (ch << 8);
 #else    
-	if (ch == 0xFEFF) {
-	    bo = 1;
-	    continue;
-	} else if (ch == 0xFFFE) {
-	    bo = -1;
-	    continue;
-	}
 	if (bo == -1)
 	    ch = (ch >> 8) | (ch << 8);
 #endif