diff --git a/evennia/utils/logger.py b/evennia/utils/logger.py
index dc097bd299..b010045dbf 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/logger.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/logger.py
@@ -408,7 +408,16 @@ class EvenniaLogFile(logfile.LogFile):
             lines (list): lines from our _file attribute.
 
         """
-        return [line.decode("utf-8") for line in self._file.readlines(*args, **kwargs)]
+        lines = []
+        for line in self._file.readlines(*args, **kwargs):
+            try:
+                lines.append(line.decode("utf-8"))
+            except UnicodeDecodeError:
+                try:
+                    lines.append(str(line))
+                except Exception:
+                    lines.append("")
+        return lines
 
 
 _LOG_FILE_HANDLES = {}  # holds open log handles
diff --git a/evennia/web/website/views/channels.py b/evennia/web/website/views/channels.py
index 339ed8d9be..a6f7dfeba8 100644
--- a/evennia/web/website/views/channels.py
+++ b/evennia/web/website/views/channels.py
@@ -133,8 +133,12 @@ class ChannelDetailView(ChannelMixin, ObjectDetailView):
         for log in (x.strip() for x in tail_log_file(filename, 0, self.max_num_lines)):
             if not log:
                 continue
-            time, msg = log.split(" [-] ")
-            time_key = time.split(":")[0]
+            try:
+                time, msg = log.split(" [-] ")
+                time_key = time.split(":")[0]
+            except ValueError:
+                # malformed log line. Skip.
+                continue
 
             bucket.append({"key": time_key, "timestamp": time, "message": msg})