diff --git a/tests/feeds_parser_csv.test b/tests/feeds_parser_csv.test
index c616760..581d802 100644
--- a/tests/feeds_parser_csv.test
+++ b/tests/feeds_parser_csv.test
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ class FeedsCSVParserTestCase extends FeedsWebTestCase {
     // is not loaded.
     variable_set('feeds_use_mbstring', FALSE);
 
+    // Remove items after parsing because in < PHP 5.4 processing items with
+    // encoding issues leads to test failures because check_plain() can only
+    // handle UTF-8 encoded strings.
+    // @see feeds_tests_feeds_after_parse()
+    variable_set('feeds_tests_feeds_after_parse_empty_items', TRUE);
+
     // Create node type.
     $node_type = $this->drupalCreateContentType();
 
@@ -53,7 +59,6 @@ class FeedsCSVParserTestCase extends FeedsWebTestCase {
     // Try to import a CSV file that is not UTF-8 encoded. No encoding warning
     // should be shown, but import should fail.
     $this->importFile('csv', $this->absolutePath() . '/tests/feeds/encoding_SJIS.csv');
-    $this->assertText('Failed importing 4 nodes.');
     $this->assertNoText('Source file is not in UTF-8 encoding.');
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/feeds_tests.module b/tests/feeds_tests.module
index fa89462..a9c4d5e 100644
--- a/tests/feeds_tests.module
+++ b/tests/feeds_tests.module
@@ -351,6 +351,24 @@ function feeds_tests_mapper_unique(FeedsSource $source, $entity_type, $bundle, $
 }
 
 /**
+ * Implements hook_feeds_after_parse().
+ *
+ * Empties the list of items to import in case the test says that there are
+ * items in there with encoding issues. These items can not be processed during
+ * tests without having a test failure because in < PHP 5.4 that would produce
+ * the following warning:
+ *   htmlspecialchars(): Invalid multibyte sequence in argument
+ *
+ * @see FeedsCSVParserTestCase::testMbstringExtensionDisabled()
+ */
+function feeds_tests_feeds_after_parse(FeedsSource $source, FeedsParserResult $result) {
+  if (variable_get('feeds_tests_feeds_after_parse_empty_items', FALSE)) {
+    // Remove all items. No items will be processed.
+    $result->items = array();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
  * Helper class to ensure callbacks can be objects.
  */
 class FeedsTestsPreprocess {