diff --git a/geocoder/extension/sql/0.0.1/50_postalcodes.sql b/geocoder/extension/sql/0.0.1/50_postalcodes.sql
index 12a7aa6..719a5a2 100644
--- a/geocoder/extension/sql/0.0.1/50_postalcodes.sql
+++ b/geocoder/extension/sql/0.0.1/50_postalcodes.sql
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ CREATE FUNCTION geocode_postalcode_points(code text[], inputcountries text[]) RE
     FROM (
       SELECT
         q, c, (SELECT iso3 FROM country_decoder WHERE
-                lower(d.c) = ANY (synonyms) LIMIT 1) iso3, (
+                lower(regexp_replace(d.c, '[^a-zA-Z\u00C0-\u00ff]+', '', 'g'))::text = ANY (synonyms) LIMIT 1) iso3, (
           SELECT the_geom
           FROM global_postal_code_points
           WHERE postal_code = upper(d.q)
diff --git a/geocoder/postal-codes/sql/geocoder.sql b/geocoder/postal-codes/sql/geocoder.sql
index f91da2a..af7be61 100644
--- a/geocoder/postal-codes/sql/geocoder.sql
+++ b/geocoder/postal-codes/sql/geocoder.sql
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION geocode_postalcode_points(code text[], inputcountries
     FROM (
       SELECT
         q, c, (SELECT iso3 FROM country_decoder WHERE
-                lower(d.c) = ANY (synonyms) LIMIT 1) iso3, (
+                lower(regexp_replace(d.c, '[^a-zA-Z\u00C0-\u00ff]+', '', 'g'))::text = ANY (synonyms) LIMIT 1) iso3, (
           SELECT the_geom
           FROM global_postal_code_points
           WHERE postal_code = upper(d.q)