diff --git a/clippy_lints/src/tabs_in_doc_comments.rs b/clippy_lints/src/tabs_in_doc_comments.rs
index a0492a88f912a..e2c144709f5b7 100644
--- a/clippy_lints/src/tabs_in_doc_comments.rs
+++ b/clippy_lints/src/tabs_in_doc_comments.rs
@@ -104,30 +104,32 @@ fn get_chunks_of_tabs(the_str: &str) -> Vec<(u32, u32)> {
     // tracker to decide if the last group of tabs is not closed by a non-tab character
     let mut is_active = false;
 
-    let chars_array: Vec<_> = the_str.chars().collect();
+    // Note that we specifically need the char _byte_ indices here, not the positional indexes
+    // within the char array to deal with multi-byte characters properly. `char_indices` does
+    // exactly that. It provides an iterator over tuples of the form `(byte position, char)`.
+    let char_indices: Vec<_> = the_str.char_indices().collect();
 
-    if chars_array == vec!['\t'] {
+    if let [(_, '\t')] = char_indices.as_slice() {
         return vec![(0, 1)];
     }
 
-    for (index, arr) in chars_array.windows(2).enumerate() {
-        let index = u32::try_from(index).expect(line_length_way_to_long);
-        match arr {
-            ['\t', '\t'] => {
+    for entry in char_indices.windows(2) {
+        match entry {
+            [(_, '\t'), (_, '\t')] => {
                 // either string starts with double tab, then we have to set it active,
                 // otherwise is_active is true anyway
                 is_active = true;
             },
-            [_, '\t'] => {
+            [(_, _), (index_b, '\t')] => {
                 // as ['\t', '\t'] is excluded, this has to be a start of a tab group,
                 // set indices accordingly
                 is_active = true;
-                current_start = index + 1;
+                current_start = u32::try_from(*index_b).unwrap();
             },
-            ['\t', _] => {
+            [(_, '\t'), (index_b, _)] => {
                 // this now has to be an end of the group, hence we have to push a new tuple
                 is_active = false;
-                spans.push((current_start, index + 1));
+                spans.push((current_start, u32::try_from(*index_b).unwrap()));
             },
             _ => {},
         }
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ fn get_chunks_of_tabs(the_str: &str) -> Vec<(u32, u32)> {
     if is_active {
         spans.push((
             current_start,
-            u32::try_from(the_str.chars().count()).expect(line_length_way_to_long),
+            u32::try_from(char_indices.last().unwrap().0 + 1).expect(line_length_way_to_long),
         ));
     }
 
@@ -148,6 +150,13 @@ fn get_chunks_of_tabs(the_str: &str) -> Vec<(u32, u32)> {
 mod tests_for_get_chunks_of_tabs {
     use super::get_chunks_of_tabs;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_unicode_han_string() {
+        let res = get_chunks_of_tabs(" \u{4f4d}\t");
+
+        assert_eq!(res, vec![(4, 5)]);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_empty_string() {
         let res = get_chunks_of_tabs("");
diff --git a/tests/ui/crashes/ice-5835.rs b/tests/ui/crashes/ice-5835.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5e99cb432b6e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui/crashes/ice-5835.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#[rustfmt::skip]
+pub struct Foo {
+    /// 位	
+    ///   ^ Do not remove this tab character.
+    ///   It was required to trigger the ICE.
+    pub bar: u8,
+}
+
+fn main() {}
diff --git a/tests/ui/crashes/ice-5835.stderr b/tests/ui/crashes/ice-5835.stderr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c972bcb60a0cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ui/crashes/ice-5835.stderr
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+error: using tabs in doc comments is not recommended
+  --> $DIR/ice-5835.rs:3:10
+   |
+LL |     /// 位    
+   |           ^^^^ help: consider using four spaces per tab
+   |
+   = note: `-D clippy::tabs-in-doc-comments` implied by `-D warnings`
+
+error: aborting due to previous error
+