diff --git a/src/common.c b/src/common.c
index 44c2fcff..eb1d1e8a 100644
--- a/src/common.c
+++ b/src/common.c
@@ -418,6 +418,33 @@ utf8_display_len(const char* const str)
     return len;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Removes illegal XML 1.0 characters from a string.
+ *
+ * This function creates a new string that excludes characters in the range
+ * U+0000 to U+001F, except for U+0009 (TAB), U+000A (LF), and U+000D (CR).
+ */
+gchar*
+str_xml_sanitize(const char* const str)
+{
+    if (str == NULL) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    GString* sanitized = g_string_new_len(NULL, strlen(str));
+    const char* curr = str;
+
+    while (*curr != '\0') {
+        gunichar c = g_utf8_get_char(curr);
+        if ((c >= 0x20) || (c == 0x09) || (c == 0x0A) || (c == 0x0D)) {
+            g_string_append_unichar(sanitized, c);
+        }
+        curr = g_utf8_next_char(curr);
+    }
+
+    return g_string_free(sanitized, FALSE);
+}
+
 char*
 release_get_latest(void)
 {
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 0dccf9b5..cb3155e4 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ gboolean copy_file(const char* const src, const char* const target, const gboole
 char* str_replace(const char* string, const char* substr, const char* replacement);
 gboolean strtoi_range(const char* str, int* saveptr, int min, int max, char** err_msg);
 int utf8_display_len(const char* const str);
+gchar* str_xml_sanitize(const char* const str);
 
 gboolean string_matches_one_of(const char* what, const char* is, gboolean is_can_be_null, const char* first, ...) __attribute__((sentinel));
 gboolean valid_tls_policy_option(const char* is);
diff --git a/src/event/client_events.c b/src/event/client_events.c
index 51883197..498863a6 100644
--- a/src/event/client_events.c
+++ b/src/event/client_events.c
@@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ cl_ev_send_msg_correct(ProfChatWin* chatwin, const char* const msg, const char*
     }
 
     auto_char char* plugin_msg = plugins_pre_chat_message_send(chatwin->barejid, msg);
-    const char* const message = plugin_msg ?: msg;
+    auto_gchar gchar* sanitized_msg = str_xml_sanitize(plugin_msg ?: msg);
+    const char* message = sanitized_msg;
 
     char* replace_id = NULL;
     if (correct_last_msg) {
@@ -177,7 +178,8 @@ void
 cl_ev_send_muc_msg_corrected(ProfMucWin* mucwin, const char* const msg, const char* const oob_url, gboolean correct_last_msg)
 {
     auto_char char* plugin_msg = plugins_pre_room_message_send(mucwin->roomjid, msg);
-    const char* const message = plugin_msg ?: msg;
+    auto_gchar gchar* sanitized_msg = str_xml_sanitize(plugin_msg ?: msg);
+    const char* message = sanitized_msg;
 
     char* replace_id = NULL;
     if (correct_last_msg) {
@@ -218,7 +220,8 @@ cl_ev_send_priv_msg(ProfPrivateWin* privwin, const char* const msg, const char*
         privwin_message_left_room(privwin);
     } else {
         auto_char char* plugin_msg = plugins_pre_priv_message_send(privwin->fulljid, msg);
-        const char* const message = plugin_msg ?: msg;
+        auto_gchar gchar* sanitized_msg = str_xml_sanitize(plugin_msg ?: msg);
+        const char* message = sanitized_msg;
         auto_jid Jid* jidp = jid_create(privwin->fulljid);
 
         auto_char char* id = message_send_private(privwin->fulljid, message, oob_url);
diff --git a/tests/unittests/test_common.c b/tests/unittests/test_common.c
index cd62c84d..6a7bbb9f 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/test_common.c
+++ b/tests/unittests/test_common.c
@@ -1281,3 +1281,35 @@ string_matches_one_of__tests__edge_cases(void** state)
     // is is an empty string, one of the options is an empty string
     assert_true(string_matches_one_of("Test", "", FALSE, "option1", "", "option2", NULL));
 }
+
+void
+str_xml_sanitize__strips_illegal_characters(void** state)
+{
+    // Test NULL input
+    assert_null(str_xml_sanitize(NULL));
+
+    // Test empty string
+    gchar* res1 = str_xml_sanitize("");
+    assert_string_equal("", res1);
+    g_free(res1);
+
+    // Test string with no illegal characters
+    gchar* res2 = str_xml_sanitize("Hello World! \t\n\r");
+    assert_string_equal("Hello World! \t\n\r", res2);
+    g_free(res2);
+
+    // Test string with illegal characters (0x16 is ^V, 0x01 is ^A)
+    gchar* res3 = str_xml_sanitize("Hello\x16World\x01!");
+    assert_string_equal("HelloWorld!", res3);
+    g_free(res3);
+
+    // Test string with mixed legal and illegal control characters
+    gchar* res4 = str_xml_sanitize("\x09Legal\x0BIllegal\x0ALegal\x1FIllegal\x0DLegal");
+    assert_string_equal("\tLegalIllegal\nLegalIllegal\rLegal", res4);
+    g_free(res4);
+
+    // Test UTF-8 characters
+    gchar* res5 = str_xml_sanitize("UTF-8: üñîçøðé \x16 and more");
+    assert_string_equal("UTF-8: üñîçøðé  and more", res5);
+    g_free(res5);
+}
diff --git a/tests/unittests/test_common.h b/tests/unittests/test_common.h
index 50ce1262..c3e97bf8 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/test_common.h
+++ b/tests/unittests/test_common.h
@@ -60,5 +60,6 @@ void string_matches_one_of__tests__edge_cases(void** state);
 void valid_tls_policy_option__is__correct_for_various_inputs(void** state);
 void get_mentions__tests__various(void** state);
 void release_is_new__tests__various(void** state);
+void str_xml_sanitize__strips_illegal_characters(void** state);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/unittests/unittests.c b/tests/unittests/unittests.c
index 1dede0e5..d3f76ca2 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/unittests.c
+++ b/tests/unittests/unittests.c
@@ -661,6 +661,7 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
         cmocka_unit_test(prof_occurrences__tests__large_message),
         cmocka_unit_test(get_mentions__tests__various),
         cmocka_unit_test(release_is_new__tests__various),
+        cmocka_unit_test(str_xml_sanitize__strips_illegal_characters),
 
         cmocka_unit_test_setup_teardown(plugins_get_command_names__returns__no_commands,
                                         load_preferences,