diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/elements/field.rb b/lib/webrat/core/elements/field.rb
index 1a2088d..7900d88 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/elements/field.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/elements/field.rb
@@ -134,8 +134,7 @@ module Webrat
     end
 
     def escaped_value
-      value = @value.respond_to?(:join) ? @value.join : @value
-      value ? CGI.escape(value) : ""
+      CGI.escape([*@value].first.to_s)
     end
 
     def labels
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/elements/link.rb b/lib/webrat/core/elements/link.rb
index 5b83e36..0edf8d4 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/elements/link.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/elements/link.rb
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ module Webrat
     def authenticity_token
       return unless onclick && onclick.include?("s.setAttribute('name', 'authenticity_token');") &&
         onclick =~ /s\.setAttribute\('value', '([a-f0-9]{40})'\);/
-      $LAST_MATCH_INFO.captures.first
+      $~.captures.first
     end
 
     def onclick
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/locators/link_locator.rb b/lib/webrat/core/locators/link_locator.rb
index 426c527..a2e92a2 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/locators/link_locator.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/locators/link_locator.rb
@@ -45,7 +45,15 @@ module Webrat
       end
 
       def replace_nbsp(str)
-        str.gsub([0xA0].pack('U'), ' ')
+        if str.respond_to?(:valid_encoding?)
+          if str.valid_encoding?
+            str.gsub(/\xc2\xa0/u, ' ')
+          else
+            str.force_encoding('UTF-8').gsub(/\xc2\xa0/u, ' ')
+          end
+        else
+          str.gsub(/\xc2\xa0/u, ' ')
+        end
       end
 
       def replace_nbsp_ref(str)
diff --git a/lib/webrat/mechanize.rb b/lib/webrat/mechanize.rb
index 1bdcb90..41296cf 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/mechanize.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/mechanize.rb
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ module Webrat #:nodoc:
         else
           current_path.split("/")[0..(-1 - levels_up)].join("/")
         end
-        descendent = url.split("/")[levels_up..-1]
+        descendent = url.split("/")[levels_up..-1].join
         "#{ancestor}/#{descendent}"
       end
   end