diff --git a/lisp/progmodes/cc-awk.el b/lisp/progmodes/cc-awk.el
index 1a67a95927b..0fd850eb64f 100644
--- a/lisp/progmodes/cc-awk.el
+++ b/lisp/progmodes/cc-awk.el
@@ -215,10 +215,10 @@
 (defconst c-awk-neutrals*-re
   (concat "\\(" c-awk-neutral-re "\\)*"))
 ;;   A (possibly empty) string of neutral characters (or character pairs).
-(defconst c-awk-var-num-ket-re "[])0-9a-zA-Z_$.\x80-\xff]+")
+(defconst c-awk-var-num-ket-re "[])0-9a-zA-Z_$.]+")
 ;;   Matches a char which is a constituent of a variable or number, or a ket
-;; (i.e. closing bracKET), round or square.  Assume that all characters \x80 to
-;; \xff are "letters".
+;; (i.e. closing bracKET), round or square.  (2019-07): No longer assume that
+;; all characters \x80 to \xff are "letters".
 (defconst c-awk-div-sign-re
   (concat c-awk-var-num-ket-re c-awk-neutrals*-re "/"))
 ;;   Will match a piece of AWK buffer ending in / which is a division sign, in