diff --git a/src/phputf8/ord.php b/src/phputf8/ord.php
index f35afdb6..e3edc3d6 100644
--- a/src/phputf8/ord.php
+++ b/src/phputf8/ord.php
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 */
 function utf8_ord($chr)
 {
-    $ord0 = ord($chr);
+    $ord0 = ord($chr[0]);
 
     if ($ord0 >= 0 && $ord0 <= 127) {
         return $ord0;