diff --git a/drivers/tty/vt/keyboard.c b/drivers/tty/vt/keyboard.c
index 0617e87ab343925f9568eef6a9a508afe68b0ecc..515fc095e3b4c0587cfcb539b1b5caecc809304d 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/vt/keyboard.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/vt/keyboard.c
@@ -1450,7 +1450,7 @@ static void kbd_keycode(unsigned int keycode, int down, int hw_raw)
 						KBD_UNICODE, &param);
 		if (rc != NOTIFY_STOP)
 			if (down && !raw_mode)
-				to_utf8(vc, keysym);
+				k_unicode(vc, keysym, !down);
 		return;
 	}