diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressHelper.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressHelper.php
index 25736af634e23..5f145bb4094cd 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressHelper.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressHelper.php
@@ -177,8 +177,8 @@ public function setRedrawFrequency($freq)
     /**
      * Starts the progress output.
      *
-     * @param OutputInterface $output  An Output instance
-     * @param integer         $max     Maximum steps
+     * @param OutputInterface $output An Output instance
+     * @param integer         $max    Maximum steps
      */
     public function start(OutputInterface $output, $max = null)
     {
@@ -236,6 +236,36 @@ public function advance($step = 1, $redraw = false)
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the current progress.
+     *
+     * @param integer $current The current progress
+     * @param Boolean $redraw  Whether to redraw or not
+     *
+     * @throws \LogicException
+     */
+    public function setCurrent($current, $redraw = false)
+    {
+        if (null === $this->startTime) {
+            throw new \LogicException('You must start the progress bar before calling setCurrent().');
+        }
+
+        $current = (int) $current;
+
+        if ($current < $this->current) {
+            throw new \LogicException('You can\'t regress the progress bar');
+        }
+
+        if ($this->current === 0) {
+            $redraw = true;
+        }
+
+        $this->current = $current;
+        if ($redraw || $this->current % $this->redrawFreq === 0) {
+            $this->display();
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Outputs the current progress string.
      *
@@ -289,7 +319,7 @@ private function initialize()
         }
 
         if ($this->max > 0) {
-            $this->widths['max']     = strlen($this->max);
+            $this->widths['max']     = $this->getLength($this->max);
             $this->widths['current'] = $this->widths['max'];
         } else {
             $this->barCharOriginal = $this->barChar;
@@ -325,7 +355,7 @@ private function generate($finish = false)
                 }
             }
 
-            $emptyBars = $this->barWidth - $completeBars - strlen($this->progressChar);
+            $emptyBars = $this->barWidth - $completeBars - $this->getLength($this->progressChar);
             $bar = str_repeat($this->barChar, $completeBars);
             if ($completeBars < $this->barWidth) {
                 $bar .= $this->progressChar;
@@ -384,21 +414,41 @@ private function humaneTime($secs)
      * Overwrites a previous message to the output.
      *
      * @param OutputInterface $output   An Output instance
-     * @param string|array    $messages The message as an array of lines or a single string
+     * @param string          $messages The message
      */
-    private function overwrite(OutputInterface $output, $messages)
+    private function overwrite(OutputInterface $output, $message)
     {
+        $length = $this->getLength($message);
+
+        // append whitespace to match the last line's length
+        if (($this->lastMessagesLength !== null) && ($this->lastMessagesLength > $length)) {
+            $message = str_pad($message, $this->lastMessagesLength, "\x20", STR_PAD_RIGHT);
+        }
+
         // carriage return
         $output->write("\x0D");
-        if ($this->lastMessagesLength!==null) {
-            // clear the line with the length of the last message
-            $output->write(str_repeat("\x20", $this->lastMessagesLength));
-            // carriage return
-            $output->write("\x0D");
+        $output->write($message);
+
+        $this->lastMessagesLength = $this->getLength($message);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Wrapper arround strlen: uses multi-byte function if available
+     *
+     * @param  string $string
+     * @return integer
+     */
+    private function getLength($string)
+    {
+        if (!function_exists('mb_strlen')) {
+            return strlen($string);
+        }
+
+        if (false === $encoding = mb_detect_encoding($string)) {
+            return strlen($string);
         }
-        $output->write($messages);
 
-        $this->lastMessagesLength=strlen($messages);
+        return mb_strlen($string, $encoding);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressHelperTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressHelperTest.php
index b5560263f6a07..abb8d0b681566 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressHelperTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressHelperTest.php
@@ -74,6 +74,83 @@ public function testPercent()
         $this->assertEquals($this->generateOutput('  0/50 [>---------------------------]   0%').$this->generateOutput('  1/50 [>---------------------------]   2%').$this->generateOutput('  2/50 [=>--------------------------]   4%'), stream_get_contents($output->getStream()));
     }
 
+    public function testOverwriteWithShorterLine()
+    {
+        $progress = new ProgressHelper();
+        $progress->setFormat(' %current%/%max% [%bar%] %percent%%');
+        $progress->start($output = $this->getOutputStream(), 50);
+        $progress->display();
+        $progress->advance();
+
+        // set shorter format
+        $progress->setFormat(' %current%/%max% [%bar%]');
+        $progress->advance();
+
+        rewind($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            $this->generateOutput('  0/50 [>---------------------------]   0%') .
+            $this->generateOutput('  1/50 [>---------------------------]   2%') .
+            $this->generateOutput('  2/50 [=>--------------------------]     '),
+            stream_get_contents($output->getStream())
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testSetCurrentProgress()
+    {
+        $progress = new ProgressHelper();
+        $progress->start($output = $this->getOutputStream(), 50);
+        $progress->display();
+        $progress->advance();
+        $progress->setCurrent(15);
+        $progress->setCurrent(25);
+
+        rewind($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            $this->generateOutput('  0/50 [>---------------------------]   0%') .
+            $this->generateOutput('  1/50 [>---------------------------]   2%') .
+            $this->generateOutput(' 15/50 [========>-------------------]  30%') .
+            $this->generateOutput(' 25/50 [==============>-------------]  50%'),
+            stream_get_contents($output->getStream())
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException        \LogicException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage You must start the progress bar
+     */
+    public function testSetCurrentBeforeStarting()
+    {
+        $progress = new ProgressHelper();
+        $progress->setCurrent(15);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException        \LogicException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage You can't regress the progress bar
+     */
+    public function testRegressProgress()
+    {
+        $progress = new ProgressHelper();
+        $progress->start($output = $this->getOutputStream(), 50);
+        $progress->setCurrent(15);
+        $progress->setCurrent(10);
+    }
+
+    public function testMultiByteSupport()
+    {
+        if (!function_exists('mb_strlen') || (false === $encoding = mb_detect_encoding('■'))) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('The mbstring extension is needed for multi-byte support');
+        }
+
+        $progress = new ProgressHelper();
+        $progress->start($output = $this->getOutputStream());
+        $progress->setBarCharacter('■');
+        $progress->advance(3);
+
+        rewind($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals($this->generateOutput('    3 [■■■>------------------------]'), stream_get_contents($output->getStream()));
+    }
+
     protected function getOutputStream()
     {
         return new StreamOutput(fopen('php://memory', 'r+', false));
@@ -86,10 +163,10 @@ protected function generateOutput($expected)
         $expectedout = $expected;
 
         if ($this->lastMessagesLength !== null) {
-            $expectedout = str_repeat("\x20", $this->lastMessagesLength)."\x0D".$expected;
+            $expectedout = str_pad($expected, $this->lastMessagesLength, "\x20", STR_PAD_RIGHT);
         }
 
-        $this->lastMessagesLength = strlen($expected);
+        $this->lastMessagesLength = strlen($expectedout);
 
         return "\x0D".$expectedout;
     }