diff --git a/src/lib/direct.cpp b/src/lib/direct.cpp
index 674e04c3a..ab4a7368d 100644
--- a/src/lib/direct.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/direct.cpp
@@ -672,10 +672,9 @@ ncdirect* ncdirect_core_init(const char* termtype, FILE* outfp, uint64_t flags){
   if(ncvisual_init(NCLOGLEVEL_SILENT)){
     goto err;
   }
-  if(interrogate_terminfo(&ret->tcache, shortname_term)){
+  if(interrogate_terminfo(&ret->tcache, shortname_term, utf8)){
     goto err;
   }
-  ret->tcache.utf8 = utf8;
   ncdirect_set_styles(ret, 0);
   return ret;
 
diff --git a/src/lib/internal.h b/src/lib/internal.h
index 492a0024a..ef31cb83d 100644
--- a/src/lib/internal.h
+++ b/src/lib/internal.h
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ void sigwinch_handler(int signo);
 
 void init_lang(notcurses* nc); // nc may be NULL, only used for logging
 int terminfostr(char** gseq, const char* name);
-int interrogate_terminfo(tinfo* ti, const char* termname);
+int interrogate_terminfo(tinfo* ti, const char* termname, unsigned utf8);
 
 // if there were missing elements we wanted from terminfo, bitch about them here
 void warn_terminfo(const notcurses* nc, const tinfo* ti);
diff --git a/src/lib/terminfo.c b/src/lib/terminfo.c
index 24a6ba240..e587b521d 100644
--- a/src/lib/terminfo.c
+++ b/src/lib/terminfo.c
@@ -69,19 +69,12 @@ apply_term_heuristics(tinfo* ti, const char* termname){
   return 0;
 }
 
-// there are some capabilities that we want, but can work around. if the
-// logging level is set to "warn" or higher, go ahead and complain.
-void warn_terminfo(const notcurses* nc, const tinfo* ti){
-  if(!ti->hpa){
-    logwarn(nc, "No horizontal position absolute capability");
-  }
-}
-
 // termname is just the TERM environment variable. some details are not
 // exposed via terminfo, and we must make heuristic decisions based on
 // the detected terminal type, yuck :/.
-int interrogate_terminfo(tinfo* ti, const char* termname){
+int interrogate_terminfo(tinfo* ti, const char* termname, unsigned utf8){
   memset(ti, 0, sizeof(*ti));
+  ti->utf8 = utf8;
   ti->RGBflag = query_rgb();
   int colors = tigetnum("colors");
   if(colors <= 0){
diff --git a/src/poc/1350.c b/src/poc/1350.c
index 2193d7bd5..99e0f6e4c 100644
--- a/src/poc/1350.c
+++ b/src/poc/1350.c
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ static int query_address(struct notcurses *nc, struct ncplane *plane,
   plane_opts.x = strlen(question) + 1;
 
   struct ncplane *reader_plane = ncplane_create(plane, &plane_opts);
+  uint64_t channels = 0;
+  channels_set_bg_alpha(&channels, CELL_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT);
+  ncplane_set_base(reader_plane, "", 0, channels);
 
   struct ncreader_options reader_opts = {0};
   reader_opts.flags = NCREADER_OPTION_CURSOR;