diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/CakeNumberTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/CakeNumberTest.php
index dc80e66da..1d0acdcf3 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/CakeNumberTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/CakeNumberTest.php
@@ -72,6 +72,54 @@ class CakeNumberTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
 	}
 
+/**
+ * testMultibyteFormat
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testMultibyteFormat() {
+		$value = '5199100.0006';
+		$result = $this->Number->format($value, array(
+			'thousands'	=> ' ',
+			'decimals'	=> '&',
+			'places'	=> 3,
+			'escape'	=> false,
+			'before'	=> '',
+		));
+		$expected = '5 199 100&001';
+		$this->assertEqual($expected, $result);
+
+		$value = 1000.45;
+		$result = $this->Number->format($value, array(
+			'thousands'	=> ',,',
+			'decimals'	=> '.a',
+			'escape'	=> false,
+		));
+		$expected = '$1,,000.a45';
+		$this->assertEqual($expected, $result);
+
+		$value = 519919827593784.00;
+		$this->Number->addFormat('RUR', array(
+			'thousands'		=> 'ø€ƒ‡™',
+			'decimals'		=> '(§.§)',
+			'escape'		=> false,
+			'wholeSymbol'	=> '€',
+			'wholePosition'	=> 'after',
+		));
+		$result = $this->Number->currency($value, 'RUR');
+		$expected = '519ø€ƒ‡™919ø€ƒ‡™827ø€ƒ‡™593ø€ƒ‡™784(§.§)00€';
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
+
+		$value = '13371337.1337';
+		$result = CakeNumber::format($value, array(
+			'thousands'	=> '- |-| /-\ >< () |2 -',
+			'decimals'	=> '- £€€† -',
+			'before'	=> ''
+		));
+		$expected = '13- |-| /-\ &gt;&lt; () |2 -371- |-| /-\ &gt;&lt; () |2 -337- £€€† -13';
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
+	}
+
 /**
  * Test currency method.
  *
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Utility/CakeNumber.php b/lib/Cake/Utility/CakeNumber.php
index 46415c946..2829016be 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Utility/CakeNumber.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Utility/CakeNumber.php
@@ -60,6 +60,13 @@ class CakeNumber {
 		'zero' => '0', 'places' => 2, 'thousands' => ',', 'decimals' => '.','negative' => '()', 'escape' => true,
 	);
 
+/**
+ * If native number_format() should be used. If >= PHP5.4
+ *
+ * @var boolean
+ */
+	protected static $_numberFormatSupport = null;
+
 /**
  * Formats a number with a level of precision.
  *
@@ -142,7 +149,7 @@ class CakeNumber {
 			extract($options);
 		}
 
-		$out = $before . number_format($number, $places, $decimals, $thousands) . $after;
+		$out = $before . self::_number_format($number, $places, $decimals, $thousands) . $after;
 
 		if ($escape) {
 			return h($out);
@@ -150,6 +157,36 @@ class CakeNumber {
 		return $out;
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Alternative number_format() to accommodate multibyte decimals and thousands < PHP 5.4
+ *
+ * @param float $number
+ * @param integer $places
+ * @param string $decimals
+ * @param string $thousands
+ * @return string
+ */
+	protected static function _number_format($number, $places = 0, $decimals = '.', $thousands = ',') {
+		if (!isset(self::$_numberFormatSupport)) {
+			self::$_numberFormatSupport = version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.4.0', '>=');
+		}
+		if (self::$_numberFormatSupport) {
+			return number_format($number, $places, $decimals, $thousands);
+		}
+		$number = number_format($number, $places, '.', '');
+		$after = '';
+		$foundDecimal = strpos($number, '.');
+		if ($foundDecimal !== false) {
+			$after = substr($number, $foundDecimal);
+			$number = substr($number, 0, $foundDecimal);
+		}
+		while (($foundThousand = preg_replace('/(\d+)(\d\d\d)/', '\1 \2', $number)) != $number) {
+			$number = $foundThousand;
+		}
+		$number .= $after;
+		return strtr($number, array(' ' => $thousands, '.' => $decimals));
+	}
+
 /**
  * Formats a number into a currency format.
  *