diff --git a/runtime/lua/vscode/util.lua b/runtime/lua/vscode/util.lua
index f262303..3d4576e 100644
--- a/runtime/lua/vscode/util.lua
+++ b/runtime/lua/vscode/util.lua
@@ -63,17 +63,6 @@ function M.utf16_col(text, byte_col)
   return byte_col == 0 and 0 or str_utf16index(text, byte_col)
 end
 
----@param text string the line the column belongs to
----@param byte_col integer zero-indexed byte column, clamped to `text`
----@return integer zero-indexed byte column just past the character byte_col points into
-local function byte_after_char(text, byte_col)
-  byte_col = math.max(0, math.min(byte_col, #text))
-  if byte_col == #text then
-    return byte_col
-  end
-  return byte_col + vim.str_utf_end(text, byte_col + 1) + 1
-end
-
 ---@param buf integer
 ---@param line integer one-indexed line
 ---@param byte_col integer zero-indexed byte column
@@ -95,11 +84,10 @@ end
 ---@return lsp.Range
 function M.lsp_range(buf, start_line, start_col, end_line, end_col)
   local end_text = M.get_line(buf, end_line - 1) or ""
-  if vim.o.selection ~= "exclusive" then
-    -- step over the whole character: adding one UTF-16 unit splits a surrogate pair
-    end_col = byte_after_char(end_text, end_col)
-  end
   local end_char = M.utf16_col(end_text, end_col)
+  if vim.o.selection ~= "exclusive" then
+    end_char = math.min(end_char + 1, M.utf16_col(end_text, #end_text))
+  end
   return {
     start = M.lsp_position(buf, start_line, start_col),
     ["end"] = { line = end_line - 1, character = end_char },
@@ -177,4 +165,12 @@ function M.win_set_option(win, name, value)
   return M.set_option_value(name, value, { win = win })
 end
 
+---Get a buffer variable safely. Returns nil if the variable does not exist.
+function M.buf_get_var(buf, name)
+  local ok, value = pcall(api.nvim_buf_get_var, buf, name)
+  if ok then
+    return value
+  end
+end
+
 return M
diff --git a/src/test/integ/multi-byte-chars.test.ts b/src/test/integ/multi-byte-chars.test.ts
index 7db3dae..680bfaf 100644
--- a/src/test/integ/multi-byte-chars.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/integ/multi-byte-chars.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { NeovimClient } from "neovim";
-import vscode from "vscode";
 
 import {
     attachTestNvimClient,
@@ -287,54 +286,4 @@ describe("Multi-width characters", () => {
             client,
         );
     });
-
-    it("Works - visual mode over chars outside the BMP", async () => {
-        // 𝕜 is U+1D55C: one Nvim character, but two UTF-16 units for VSCode
-        await openTextDocument({ content: ["a𝕜b"].join("\n") });
-
-        await assertContent({ content: ["a𝕜b"], cursor: [0, 0] }, client);
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("v");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 1)] }, client);
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("l");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 3)] }, client);
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("l");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 4)] }, client);
-
-        await sendEscapeKey();
-    });
-
-    it("Works - visual mode over consecutive non-BMP chars", async () => {
-        await openTextDocument({ content: ["a𝕜𝕝b"].join("\n") });
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("v");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 1)] }, client);
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("ll");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 5)] }, client);
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("l");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 6)] }, client);
-
-        await sendEscapeKey();
-    });
-
-    it("Works - visual mode across mixed BMP and non-BMP chars", async () => {
-        await openTextDocument({ content: ["aᵩ𝕜b"].join("\n") });
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("v");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 1)] }, client);
-
-        // the cursor sits on the astral char, whose two UTF-16 units both belong to
-        // the selection: a, the modifier letter and the pair take offsets 0 to 4
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("ll");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 4)] }, client);
-
-        await sendVSCodeKeys("l");
-        await assertContent({ vsCodeSelections: [new vscode.Selection(0, 0, 0, 5)] }, client);
-
-        await sendEscapeKey();
-    });
 });