diff --git a/nquads/actions.rl b/nquads/actions.rl
index a53fc93..cff580b 100644
--- a/nquads/actions.rl
+++ b/nquads/actions.rl
@@ -76,8 +76,12 @@
 
 	action Error {
 		if p < len(data) {
-			return graph.Triple{}, fmt.Errorf("%v: unexpected rune %q at %d", ErrInvalid, data[p], p)
+			if r := data[p]; r < unicode.MaxASCII {
+				return triple, fmt.Errorf("%v: unexpected rune %q at %d", ErrInvalid, data[p], p)
+			} else {
+				return triple, fmt.Errorf("%v: unexpected rune %q (\\u%04x) at %d", ErrInvalid, data[p], data[p], p)
+			}
 		}
-		return graph.Triple{}, ErrIncomplete
+		return triple, ErrIncomplete
 	}
 }%%
diff --git a/nquads/nquads.go b/nquads/nquads.go
index b86bb4f..f24b4f2 100644
--- a/nquads/nquads.go
+++ b/nquads/nquads.go
@@ -30,12 +30,10 @@ var (
 	ErrUnterminated    = errors.New("nqauds: unterminated quad")
 )
 
+// Parse returns a valid graph.Triple or a non-nil error.
 func Parse(str string) (*graph.Triple, error) {
 	t, err := parse([]rune(str))
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return &t, nil
+	return &t, err
 }
 
 type Decoder struct {
diff --git a/nquads/nquads.rl b/nquads/nquads.rl
index 1ca056c..990213a 100644
--- a/nquads/nquads.rl
+++ b/nquads/nquads.rl
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 							| 0x3001 .. 0xd7ff
 							| 0xf900 .. 0xfdcf
 							| 0xfdf0 .. 0xfffd
-							| 0x10000 .. 0x1efff
+							| 0x10000 .. 0xeffff
 							;
 
 	PN_CHARS_U              = PN_CHARS_BASE | '_' | ':' ;
@@ -58,7 +58,9 @@
 							| 0x0e .. '!'
 							| '#' .. '['
 							| ']' .. '~'
-							| ECHAR | UCHAR)*
+							| 0x80 .. 0x10ffff
+							| ECHAR
+							| UCHAR)*
 							  '"'
 							;
 
@@ -69,7 +71,9 @@
 							| ']'
 							| '_'
 							| 'a' .. 'z'
-							| '~' | UCHAR)*
+							| '~'
+							| 0x80 .. 0x10ffff
+							| UCHAR)*
 							  '>'
 							;
 
diff --git a/nquads/nquads_test.go b/nquads/nquads_test.go
index eb5a548..c2eb3b1 100644
--- a/nquads/nquads_test.go
+++ b/nquads/nquads_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package nquads
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -29,6 +30,31 @@ var testNTriples = []struct {
 }{
 	// Tests taken from http://www.w3.org/TR/n-quads/ and http://www.w3.org/TR/n-triples/.
 
+	// _:100000 </film/performance/actor> </en/larry_fine_1902> . # example from 30movies
+	{
+		message: "parse triple with commment",
+		input:   `_:100000 </film/performance/actor> </en/larry_fine_1902> . # example from 30movies`,
+		expect: &graph.Triple{
+			Subject:    "_:100000",
+			Predicate:  "</film/performance/actor>",
+			Object:     "</en/larry_fine_1902>",
+			Provenance: "",
+		},
+		err: nil,
+	},
+	// _:10011 </film/performance/character> "Tomás de Torquemada" . # example from 30movies with unicode
+	{
+		message: "parse triple with commment",
+		input:   `_:10011 </film/performance/character> "Tomás de Torquemada" . # example from 30movies with unicode`,
+		expect: &graph.Triple{
+			Subject:    "_:10011",
+			Predicate:  "</film/performance/character>",
+			Object:     `"Tomás de Torquemada"`,
+			Provenance: "",
+		},
+		err: nil,
+	},
+
 	// N-Triples example 1.
 	{
 		message: "parse triple with commment",
@@ -352,12 +378,48 @@ var testNTriples = []struct {
 		},
 		err: nil,
 	},
+
+	// Invalid input.
+	{
+		message: "parse empty",
+		input:   ``,
+		expect:  &graph.Triple{},
+		err:     ErrIncomplete,
+	},
+	{
+		message: "parse commented",
+		input:   `# comment`,
+		expect:  &graph.Triple{},
+		err:     fmt.Errorf("%v: unexpected rune '#' at 0", ErrInvalid),
+	},
+	{
+		message: "parse incomplete quad",
+		input:   `<http://example.org/bob#me> <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> .`,
+		expect: &graph.Triple{
+			Subject:    "<http://example.org/bob#me>",
+			Predicate:  "<http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type>",
+			Object:     "",
+			Provenance: "",
+		},
+		err: fmt.Errorf("%v: unexpected rune '.' at 78", ErrInvalid),
+	},
+	{
+		message: "parse incomplete quad",
+		input:   `<http://example.org/bob#me> <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> .`,
+		expect: &graph.Triple{
+			Subject:    "<http://example.org/bob#me>",
+			Predicate:  "<http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type>",
+			Object:     "",
+			Provenance: "",
+		},
+		err: fmt.Errorf("%v: unexpected rune '.' at 78", ErrInvalid),
+	},
 }
 
 func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range testNTriples {
 		got, err := Parse(test.input)
-		if err != test.err {
+		if err != test.err && (err != nil && err.Error() != test.err.Error()) {
 			t.Errorf("Unexpected error when %s: got:%v expect:%v", test.message, err, test.err)
 		}
 		if !reflect.DeepEqual(got, test.expect) {
diff --git a/nquads/parse.rl b/nquads/parse.rl
index fb97e25..6e73684 100644
--- a/nquads/parse.rl
+++ b/nquads/parse.rl
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
+	"unicode"
 
 	"github.com/google/cayley/graph"
 )