diff --git a/Doc/api/concrete.tex b/Doc/api/concrete.tex
index 4c7487c..cd9d8d5 100644
--- a/Doc/api/concrete.tex
+++ b/Doc/api/concrete.tex
@@ -1560,6 +1560,31 @@
   greater than, respectively.
 \end{cfuncdesc}
 
+\begin{cfuncdesc}{int}{PyUnicode_RichCompare}{PyObject *left, 
+                                              PyObject *right, 
+                                              int op}
+
+% This entry could use some polishing - my TeX is too
+% rusty these days... (MAL)
+
+  Rich compare two strings and return one of the following:
+\begin{verbatim}
+   - NULL in case an exception was raised
+   - Py_True or Py_False for successfuly comparisons
+   - Py_NotImplemented in case the type combination is unknown
+\end{verbatim}
+
+   Note that Py_EQ and Py_NE comparisons can cause a UnicodeWarning in
+   case the conversion of the arguments to Unicode fails with a
+   UnicodeDecodeError.
+
+   Possible values for \var{op}:
+\begin{verbatim}
+     Py_GT, Py_GE, Py_EQ, Py_NE, Py_LT, Py_LE
+\end{verbatim}
+
+\end{cfuncdesc}
+
 \begin{cfuncdesc}{PyObject*}{PyUnicode_Format}{PyObject *format,
                                               PyObject *args}
   Return a new string object from \var{format} and \var{args}; this
diff --git a/Doc/api/exceptions.tex b/Doc/api/exceptions.tex
index cb75d50..057c1da 100644
--- a/Doc/api/exceptions.tex
+++ b/Doc/api/exceptions.tex
@@ -288,10 +288,11 @@
   names are \samp{PyExc_} followed by the Python exception name.
   These have the type \ctype{PyObject*}; they are all class objects.
   Their names are \cdata{PyExc_Warning}, \cdata{PyExc_UserWarning},
-  \cdata{PyExc_DeprecationWarning}, \cdata{PyExc_SyntaxWarning},
-  \cdata{PyExc_RuntimeWarning}, and \cdata{PyExc_FutureWarning}.
-  \cdata{PyExc_Warning} is a subclass of \cdata{PyExc_Exception}; the
-  other warning categories are subclasses of \cdata{PyExc_Warning}.
+  \cdata{PyExc_UnicodeWarning}, \cdata{PyExc_DeprecationWarning},
+  \cdata{PyExc_SyntaxWarning}, \cdata{PyExc_RuntimeWarning}, and
+  \cdata{PyExc_FutureWarning}.  \cdata{PyExc_Warning} is a subclass of
+  \cdata{PyExc_Exception}; the other warning categories are subclasses
+  of \cdata{PyExc_Warning}.
 
   For information about warning control, see the documentation for the
   \module{warnings} module and the \programopt{-W} option in the
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libexcs.tex b/Doc/lib/libexcs.tex
index bef8bf1..6d2a3c5 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libexcs.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libexcs.tex
@@ -456,6 +456,11 @@
 \versionadded{2.5}
 \end{excdesc}
 
+\begin{excdesc}{UnicodeWarning}
+Base class for warnings related to Unicode.
+\versionadded{2.5}
+\end{excdesc}
+
 The class hierarchy for built-in exceptions is:
 
 \verbatiminput{../../Lib/test/exception_hierarchy.txt}
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libwarnings.tex b/Doc/lib/libwarnings.tex
index 08c0340..a37a9f5 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libwarnings.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libwarnings.tex
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@
 
 \lineii{ImportWarning}{Base category for warnings triggered during the
 process of importing a module (ignored by default).}
+
+\lineii{UnicodeWarning}{Base category for warnings related to Unicode.}
+
 \end{tableii}
 
 While these are technically built-in exceptions, they are documented
diff --git a/Include/pyerrors.h b/Include/pyerrors.h
index ae1d990..9532e32 100644
--- a/Include/pyerrors.h
+++ b/Include/pyerrors.h
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@
 PyAPI_DATA(PyObject *) PyExc_RuntimeWarning;
 PyAPI_DATA(PyObject *) PyExc_FutureWarning;
 PyAPI_DATA(PyObject *) PyExc_ImportWarning;
+PyAPI_DATA(PyObject *) PyExc_UnicodeWarning;
 
 
 /* Convenience functions */
diff --git a/Include/unicodeobject.h b/Include/unicodeobject.h
index c7e07a8..33aa185 100644
--- a/Include/unicodeobject.h
+++ b/Include/unicodeobject.h
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@
 # define PyUnicode_RSplit PyUnicodeUCS2_RSplit
 # define PyUnicode_Replace PyUnicodeUCS2_Replace
 # define PyUnicode_Resize PyUnicodeUCS2_Resize
+# define PyUnicode_RichCompare PyUnicodeUCS2_RichCompare
 # define PyUnicode_SetDefaultEncoding PyUnicodeUCS2_SetDefaultEncoding
 # define PyUnicode_Split PyUnicodeUCS2_Split
 # define PyUnicode_Splitlines PyUnicodeUCS2_Splitlines
@@ -266,6 +267,7 @@
 # define PyUnicode_RSplit PyUnicodeUCS4_RSplit
 # define PyUnicode_Replace PyUnicodeUCS4_Replace
 # define PyUnicode_Resize PyUnicodeUCS4_Resize
+# define PyUnicode_RichCompare PyUnicodeUCS4_RichCompare
 # define PyUnicode_SetDefaultEncoding PyUnicodeUCS4_SetDefaultEncoding
 # define PyUnicode_Split PyUnicodeUCS4_Split
 # define PyUnicode_Splitlines PyUnicodeUCS4_Splitlines
@@ -1139,6 +1141,28 @@
     PyObject *right		/* Right string */
     );
 
+/* Rich compare two strings and return one of the following:
+
+   - NULL in case an exception was raised
+   - Py_True or Py_False for successfuly comparisons
+   - Py_NotImplemented in case the type combination is unknown
+
+   Note that Py_EQ and Py_NE comparisons can cause a UnicodeWarning in
+   case the conversion of the arguments to Unicode fails with a
+   UnicodeDecodeError.
+
+   Possible values for op:
+
+     Py_GT, Py_GE, Py_EQ, Py_NE, Py_LT, Py_LE
+
+*/
+
+PyAPI_FUNC(PyObject *) PyUnicode_RichCompare(
+    PyObject *left,		/* Left string */ 
+    PyObject *right,		/* Right string */
+    int op			/* Operation: Py_EQ, Py_NE, Py_GT, etc. */
+    );
+
 /* Apply a argument tuple or dictionary to a format string and return
    the resulting Unicode string. */
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/exception_hierarchy.txt b/Lib/test/exception_hierarchy.txt
index 58131d7..a03f7bb 100644
--- a/Lib/test/exception_hierarchy.txt
+++ b/Lib/test/exception_hierarchy.txt
@@ -45,3 +45,4 @@
            +-- UserWarning
            +-- FutureWarning
 	   +-- ImportWarning
+	   +-- UnicodeWarning
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 5894c16..981c17b 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,18 +12,18 @@
 Core and builtins
 -----------------
 
-- Fix segfault when doing string formatting on subclasses of long.
+- Unicode objects will no longer raise an exception when being
+  compared equal or unequal to a string and causing a
+  UnicodeDecodeError exception, e.g. as result of a decoding failure.
 
-- Fix bug related to __len__ functions using values > 2**32 on 64-bit machines
-  with new-style classes.
-  
-- Fix bug related to __len__ functions returning negative values with
-  classic classes.
-  
-- Patch #1538606, Fix __index__() clipping.  There were some problems
-  discovered with the API and how integers that didn't fit into Py_ssize_t
-  were handled.  This patch attempts to provide enough alternatives
-  to effectively use __index__.
+  Instead, the equal (==) and unequal (!=) comparison operators will
+  now issue a UnicodeWarning and interpret the two objects as
+  unequal. The UnicodeWarning can be filtered as desired using
+  the warning framework, e.g. silenced completely, turned into an
+  exception, logged, etc.
+
+  Note that compare operators other than equal and unequal will still
+  raise UnicodeDecodeError exceptions as they've always done.
 
 - Bug #1536021: __hash__ may now return long int; the final hash
   value is obtained by invoking hash on the long int.
@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@
 C API
 -----
 
+- New API for Unicode rich comparisons: PyUnicode_RichCompare()
+
 - Bug #1069160.  Internal correctness changes were made to
   ``PyThreadState_SetAsyncExc()``.  A test case was added, and
   the documentation was changed to state that the return value
diff --git a/Objects/exceptions.c b/Objects/exceptions.c
index be9627c..c3ead69 100644
--- a/Objects/exceptions.c
+++ b/Objects/exceptions.c
@@ -1948,6 +1948,14 @@
           "Base class for warnings about probable mistakes in module imports");
 
 
+/*
+ *    UnicodeWarning extends Warning
+ */
+SimpleExtendsException(PyExc_Warning, UnicodeWarning,
+    "Base class for warnings about Unicode related problems, mostly\n"
+    "related to conversion problems.");
+
+
 /* Pre-computed MemoryError instance.  Best to create this as early as
  * possible and not wait until a MemoryError is actually raised!
  */
@@ -2048,6 +2056,7 @@
     PRE_INIT(RuntimeWarning)
     PRE_INIT(FutureWarning)
     PRE_INIT(ImportWarning)
+    PRE_INIT(UnicodeWarning)
 
     m = Py_InitModule4("exceptions", functions, exceptions_doc,
         (PyObject *)NULL, PYTHON_API_VERSION);
@@ -2113,6 +2122,7 @@
     POST_INIT(RuntimeWarning)
     POST_INIT(FutureWarning)
     POST_INIT(ImportWarning)
+    POST_INIT(UnicodeWarning)
 
     PyExc_MemoryErrorInst = BaseException_new(&_PyExc_MemoryError, NULL, NULL);
     if (!PyExc_MemoryErrorInst)
diff --git a/Objects/object.c b/Objects/object.c
index 73c8941..b0672f3 100644
--- a/Objects/object.c
+++ b/Objects/object.c
@@ -731,23 +731,6 @@
 		return (vv < ww) ? -1 : (vv > ww) ? 1 : 0;
 	}
 
-#ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
-	/* Special case for Unicode */
-	if (PyUnicode_Check(v) || PyUnicode_Check(w)) {
-		c = PyUnicode_Compare(v, w);
-		if (!PyErr_Occurred())
-			return c;
-		/* TypeErrors are ignored: if Unicode coercion fails due
-		   to one of the arguments not having the right type, we
-		   continue as defined by the coercion protocol (see
-		   above).  Luckily, decoding errors are reported as
-		   ValueErrors and are not masked by this technique. */
-		if (!PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_TypeError))
-			return -2;
-		PyErr_Clear();
-	}
-#endif
-
 	/* None is smaller than anything */
 	if (v == Py_None)
 		return -1;
diff --git a/Objects/unicodeobject.c b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
index ababda1..f4e3755 100644
--- a/Objects/unicodeobject.c
+++ b/Objects/unicodeobject.c
@@ -5405,6 +5405,82 @@
     return -1;
 }
 
+PyObject *PyUnicode_RichCompare(PyObject *left,
+                                PyObject *right,
+                                int op)
+{
+    int result;
+
+    result = PyUnicode_Compare(left, right);
+    if (result == -1 && PyErr_Occurred())
+        goto onError;
+
+    /* Convert the return value to a Boolean */
+    switch (op) {
+    case Py_EQ:
+        result = (result == 0);
+        break;
+    case Py_NE:
+        result = (result != 0);
+        break;
+    case Py_LE:
+        result = (result <= 0);
+        break;
+    case Py_GE:
+        result = (result >= 0);
+        break;
+    case Py_LT:
+        result = (result == -1);
+        break;
+    case Py_GT:
+        result = (result == 1);
+        break;
+    }
+    return PyBool_FromLong(result);
+
+ onError:
+
+    /* Standard case
+
+       Type errors mean that PyUnicode_FromObject() could not convert
+       one of the arguments (usually the right hand side) to Unicode,
+       ie. we can't handle the comparison request. However, it is
+       possible that the other object knows a comparison method, which
+       is why we return Py_NotImplemented to give the other object a
+       chance.
+
+    */
+    if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_TypeError)) {
+        PyErr_Clear();
+        Py_INCREF(Py_NotImplemented);
+        return Py_NotImplemented;
+    }
+    if (op != Py_EQ && op != Py_NE)
+        return NULL;
+
+    /* Equality comparison.
+
+       This is a special case: we silence any PyExc_UnicodeDecodeError
+       and instead turn it into a PyErr_UnicodeWarning.
+
+    */
+    if (!PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_UnicodeDecodeError))
+        return NULL;
+    PyErr_Clear();
+    if (PyErr_Warn(PyExc_UnicodeWarning, 
+                   (op == Py_EQ) ? 
+                   "Unicode equal comparison "
+                   "failed to convert both arguments to Unicode - "
+                   "interpreting them as being unequal" :
+                   "Unicode unequal comparison "
+                   "failed to convert both arguments to Unicode - "
+                   "interpreting them as being unequal"
+                   ) < 0)
+        return NULL;
+    result = (op == Py_NE);
+    return PyBool_FromLong(result);
+}
+
 int PyUnicode_Contains(PyObject *container,
 		       PyObject *element)
 {
@@ -6985,11 +7061,14 @@
     PyUnicode_Contains, 		/* sq_contains */
 };
 
+#define HASINDEX(o) PyType_HasFeature((o)->ob_type, Py_TPFLAGS_HAVE_INDEX)
+
 static PyObject*
 unicode_subscript(PyUnicodeObject* self, PyObject* item)
 {
-    if (PyIndex_Check(item)) {
-        Py_ssize_t i = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(item, PyExc_IndexError);
+    PyNumberMethods *nb = item->ob_type->tp_as_number;
+    if (nb != NULL && HASINDEX(item) && nb->nb_index != NULL) {
+        Py_ssize_t i = nb->nb_index(item);
         if (i == -1 && PyErr_Occurred())
             return NULL;
         if (i < 0)
@@ -7859,7 +7938,7 @@
     0, 					/* tp_print */
     0,				 	/* tp_getattr */
     0, 					/* tp_setattr */
-    (cmpfunc) unicode_compare, 		/* tp_compare */
+    0, 					/* tp_compare */
     unicode_repr, 			/* tp_repr */
     &unicode_as_number, 		/* tp_as_number */
     &unicode_as_sequence, 		/* tp_as_sequence */
@@ -7875,7 +7954,7 @@
     unicode_doc,			/* tp_doc */
     0,					/* tp_traverse */
     0,					/* tp_clear */
-    0,					/* tp_richcompare */
+    PyUnicode_RichCompare,		/* tp_richcompare */
     0,					/* tp_weaklistoffset */
     0,					/* tp_iter */
     0,					/* tp_iternext */