diff --git a/pkg/action/rollback.go b/pkg/action/rollback.go
index ccbada9fe..bfb5c87a3 100644
--- a/pkg/action/rollback.go
+++ b/pkg/action/rollback.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 
@@ -120,8 +121,8 @@ func (r *Rollback) prepareRollback(name string) (*release.Release, *release.Rele
 		return nil, nil, false, errInvalidRevision
 	}
 
-	if len(r.Description) > MaxDescriptionLength {
-		return nil, nil, false, fmt.Errorf("description must be %d characters or less, got %d", MaxDescriptionLength, len(r.Description))
+	if utf8.RuneCountInString(r.Description) > MaxDescriptionLength {
+		return nil, nil, false, fmt.Errorf("description must be %d characters or less, got %d", MaxDescriptionLength, utf8.RuneCountInString(r.Description))
 	}
 
 	currentReleasei, err := r.cfg.Releases.Last(name)
diff --git a/pkg/action/rollback_test.go b/pkg/action/rollback_test.go
index 3ad7b6b4e..6c275a258 100644
--- a/pkg/action/rollback_test.go
+++ b/pkg/action/rollback_test.go
@@ -276,3 +276,39 @@ func TestRollback_DescriptionAtMaxLength(t *testing.T) {
 
 	is.Equal(strings.Repeat("a", MaxDescriptionLength), newRelease.Info.Description)
 }
+
+func TestRollback_DescriptionMultiByteCharacters(t *testing.T) {
+	is := assert.New(t)
+	req := require.New(t)
+
+	rollAction := rollbackAction(t)
+
+	rel1 := releaseStub()
+	rel1.Name = "test-release-desc-utf8"
+	rel1.Version = 1
+	rel1.Info.Status = common.StatusSuperseded
+	rel1.ApplyMethod = "csa"
+	req.NoError(rollAction.cfg.Releases.Create(rel1))
+
+	rel2 := releaseStub()
+	rel2.Name = "test-release-desc-utf8"
+	rel2.Version = 2
+	rel2.Info.Status = common.StatusDeployed
+	rel2.ApplyMethod = "csa"
+	req.NoError(rollAction.cfg.Releases.Create(rel2))
+
+	// "é" is 2 bytes in UTF-8 but 1 rune
+	rollAction.Description = strings.Repeat("é", MaxDescriptionLength)
+	rollAction.Version = 1
+	rollAction.ServerSideApply = "false"
+
+	err := rollAction.Run("test-release-desc-utf8")
+	req.NoError(err)
+
+	newReleasei, err := rollAction.cfg.Releases.Get("test-release-desc-utf8", 3)
+	req.NoError(err)
+	newRelease, err := releaserToV1Release(newReleasei)
+	req.NoError(err)
+
+	is.Equal(strings.Repeat("é", MaxDescriptionLength), newRelease.Info.Description)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/rollback.go b/pkg/cmd/rollback.go
index d5965feb4..90343afb9 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/rollback.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/rollback.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"strconv"
 	"time"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
@@ -67,8 +68,8 @@ func newRollbackCmd(cfg *action.Configuration, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 			}
 
 			// Validate description length
-			if len(client.Description) > action.MaxDescriptionLength {
-				return fmt.Errorf("description must be %d characters or less, got %d", action.MaxDescriptionLength, len(client.Description))
+			if utf8.RuneCountInString(client.Description) > action.MaxDescriptionLength {
+				return fmt.Errorf("description must be %d characters or less, got %d", action.MaxDescriptionLength, utf8.RuneCountInString(client.Description))
 			}
 
 			dryRunStrategy, err := cmdGetDryRunFlagStrategy(cmd, false)