diff --git a/scripts/unicode.py b/scripts/unicode.py
index 293c03c..8815b7b 100755
--- a/scripts/unicode.py
+++ b/scripts/unicode.py
@@ -232,19 +232,27 @@ def emit_util_mod(f):
 
     #[inline]
     fn is_alphabetic(c: char) -> bool {
-        match c {
-            'a' ..= 'z' | 'A' ..= 'Z' => true,
-            c if c > '\x7f' => super::derived_property::Alphabetic(c),
-            _ => false,
+        if super::UNICODE_VERSION_U8 == char::UNICODE_VERSION {
+            c.is_alphabetic()
+        } else {
+            match c {
+                'a' ..= 'z' | 'A' ..= 'Z' => true,
+                c if c > '\\x7f' => super::derived_property::Alphabetic(c),
+                _ => false,
+            }
         }
     }
 
     #[inline]
     fn is_numeric(c: char) -> bool {
-        match c {
-            '0' ..= '9' => true,
-            c if c > '\x7f' => super::general_category::N(c),
-            _ => false,
+        if super::UNICODE_VERSION_U8 == char::UNICODE_VERSION {
+            c.is_numeric()
+        } else {
+            match c {
+                '0' ..= '9' => true,
+                c if c > '\\x7f' => super::general_category::N(c),
+                _ => false,
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -388,6 +396,10 @@ def emit_break_module(f, break_table, break_cats, name):
 /// The version of [Unicode](http://www.unicode.org/)
 /// that this version of unicode-segmentation is based on.
 pub const UNICODE_VERSION: (u64, u64, u64) = (%s, %s, %s);
+""" % UNICODE_VERSION)
+
+        rf.write("""
+const UNICODE_VERSION_U8: (u8, u8, u8) = (%s, %s, %s);
 """ % UNICODE_VERSION)
 
         # download and parse all the data
diff --git a/src/tables.rs b/src/tables.rs
index 5bb5605..86a7cea 100644
--- a/src/tables.rs
+++ b/src/tables.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 /// that this version of unicode-segmentation is based on.
 pub const UNICODE_VERSION: (u64, u64, u64) = (15, 1, 0);
 
+const UNICODE_VERSION_U8: (u8, u8, u8) = (15, 1, 0);
+
 pub mod util {
     #[inline]
     pub fn bsearch_range_table(c: char, r: &[(char,char)]) -> bool {
@@ -29,19 +31,27 @@ pub mod util {
 
     #[inline]
     fn is_alphabetic(c: char) -> bool {
-        match c {
-            'a' ..= 'z' | 'A' ..= 'Z' => true,
-            c if c > '' => super::derived_property::Alphabetic(c),
-            _ => false,
+        if super::UNICODE_VERSION_U8 == char::UNICODE_VERSION {
+            c.is_alphabetic()
+        } else {
+            match c {
+                'a' ..= 'z' | 'A' ..= 'Z' => true,
+                c if c > '\x7f' => super::derived_property::Alphabetic(c),
+                _ => false,
+            }
         }
     }
 
     #[inline]
     fn is_numeric(c: char) -> bool {
-        match c {
-            '0' ..= '9' => true,
-            c if c > '' => super::general_category::N(c),
-            _ => false,
+        if super::UNICODE_VERSION_U8 == char::UNICODE_VERSION {
+            c.is_numeric()
+        } else {
+            match c {
+                '0' ..= '9' => true,
+                c if c > '\x7f' => super::general_category::N(c),
+                _ => false,
+            }
         }
     }