diff --git a/baremetal/500text-screen.mu b/baremetal/500text-screen.mu
index 050cf4db..e10b6a8f 100644
--- a/baremetal/500text-screen.mu
+++ b/baremetal/500text-screen.mu
@@ -90,6 +90,12 @@ fn draw-grapheme screen: (addr screen), g: grapheme, x: int, y: int, color: int,
   copy-to *dest-color, src-color
 }
 
+# we can't really render non-ASCII yet, but when we do we'll be ready
+fn draw-code-point screen: (addr screen), c: code-point, x: int, y: int, color: int, background-color: int {
+  var g/eax: grapheme <- copy c
+  draw-grapheme screen, g, x, y, color, background-color
+}
+
 # not really needed for a real screen, though it shouldn't do any harm
 fn screen-cell-index screen-on-stack: (addr screen), x: int, y: int -> _/ecx: int {
   var screen/esi: (addr screen) <- copy screen-on-stack
@@ -193,7 +199,6 @@ fn clear-screen screen: (addr screen) {
     return
   }
   # fake screen
-  var space/edi: grapheme <- copy 0x20
   set-cursor-position screen, 0, 0
   var screen-addr/esi: (addr screen) <- copy screen
   var y/eax: int <- copy 1
@@ -206,7 +211,7 @@ fn clear-screen screen: (addr screen) {
     {
       compare x, *width
       break-if->
-      draw-grapheme screen, space, x, y, 0/fg=black, 0/bg=black
+      draw-code-point screen, 0x20/space, x, y, 0/fg=black, 0/bg=black
       x <- increment
       loop
     }
diff --git a/baremetal/501draw-text.mu b/baremetal/501draw-text.mu
index ba1d4805..af3b3a49 100644
--- a/baremetal/501draw-text.mu
+++ b/baremetal/501draw-text.mu
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ fn draw-grapheme-at-cursor screen: (addr screen), g: grapheme, color: int, backg
   draw-grapheme screen, g, cursor-x, cursor-y, color, background-color
 }
 
+# we can't really render non-ASCII yet, but when we do we'll be ready
+fn draw-code-point-at-cursor screen: (addr screen), c: code-point, color: int, background-color: int {
+  var g/eax: grapheme <- copy c
+  draw-grapheme-at-cursor screen, g, color, background-color
+}
+
 # draw a single line of text from x, y to xmax
 # return the next 'x' coordinate
 # if there isn't enough space, return 0 without modifying the screen
diff --git a/baremetal/504test-screen.mu b/baremetal/504test-screen.mu
index 0b8514c1..b70b11c7 100644
--- a/baremetal/504test-screen.mu
+++ b/baremetal/504test-screen.mu
@@ -301,8 +301,7 @@ fn test-draw-single-grapheme {
   var screen-on-stack: screen
   var screen/esi: (addr screen) <- address screen-on-stack
   initialize-screen screen, 5, 4
-  var c/eax: grapheme <- copy 0x61/a
-  draw-grapheme screen, c, 0/x, 0/y, 1/fg, 2/bg
+  draw-code-point screen, 0x61/a, 0/x, 0/y, 1/fg, 2/bg
   check-screen-row screen, 0/y, "a", "F - test-draw-single-grapheme"  # top-left corner of the screen
   check-screen-row-in-color screen, 1/fg, 0/y, "a", "F - test-draw-single-grapheme-fg"
   check-screen-row-in-background-color screen, 2/bg, 0/y, "a", "F - test-draw-single-grapheme-bg"
diff --git a/baremetal/ex4.mu b/baremetal/ex4.mu
index ede48e09..5b883131 100644
--- a/baremetal/ex4.mu
+++ b/baremetal/ex4.mu
@@ -10,6 +10,5 @@
 # Expected output: letter 'A' in green near the top-left corner of screen
 
 fn main {
-  var g/eax: grapheme <- copy 0x41/A
-  draw-grapheme 0/screen, g, 2/row, 1/col, 0xa/fg, 0/bg
+  draw-codepoint 0/screen, 0x41/A, 2/row, 1/col, 0xa/fg, 0/bg
 }
diff --git a/baremetal/ex7.mu b/baremetal/ex7.mu
index aa2083c7..30e3c1bc 100644
--- a/baremetal/ex7.mu
+++ b/baremetal/ex7.mu
@@ -19,29 +19,26 @@ fn main {
     {
       compare key, 0x68/h
       break-if-!=
-      var g/eax: grapheme <- copy 0x2d/dash
-      draw-grapheme-at-cursor 0/screen, g, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
+      draw-code-point-at-cursor 0/screen, 0x2d/dash, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
       move-cursor-left 0
     }
     {
       compare key, 0x6a/j
       break-if-!=
-      var g/eax: grapheme <- copy 0x7c/vertical-bar
-      draw-grapheme-at-cursor 0/screen, g, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
+      draw-code-point-at-cursor 0/screen, 0x7c/vertical-bar, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
       move-cursor-down 0
     }
     {
       compare key, 0x6b/k
       break-if-!=
-      var g/eax: grapheme <- copy 0x7c/vertical-bar
-      draw-grapheme-at-cursor 0/screen, g, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
+      draw-code-point-at-cursor 0/screen, 0x7c/vertical-bar, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
       move-cursor-up 0
     }
     {
       compare key, 0x6c/l
       break-if-!=
-      var g/eax: grapheme <- copy 0x2d/dash
-      draw-grapheme-at-cursor 0/screen, g, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
+      var g/eax: code-point <- copy 0x2d/dash
+      draw-code-point-at-cursor 0/screen, 0x2d/dash, 0x31/fg, 0/bg
       move-cursor-right 0
     }
     loop