diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index f86224c..b29771f 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Noteworthy Changes in ssocr Releases
 Upcoming Version ?.??.? (????-??-??):
 -------------------------------------
  * Add recognition of lower case variant of character 'h' to full charset
+ * Add recognition of lower case variant of character 'r' to full charset
  * Documentation improvements
  * Error, warning, and debug message improvements
 
diff --git a/charset.c b/charset.c
index 8b909c8..5e34066 100644
--- a/charset.c
+++ b/charset.c
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ void init_charset(charset_t cs)
       charset_array[D_H] = 'h';
       charset_array[D_h] = 'h';
       charset_array[D_R] = 'r';
+      charset_array[D_ALT_R] = 'r';
+      charset_array[D_r] = 'r';
       charset_array[D_P] = 'p';
       charset_array[D_N] = 'n';
       charset_array[D_n] = 'n';
diff --git a/defines.h b/defines.h
index c6f3adb..19cb2f1 100644
--- a/defines.h
+++ b/defines.h
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@
 #define D_H (ALL_SEGS & ~(HORIZ_UP | HORIZ_DOWN))
 #define D_h (VERT_LEFT_UP | VERT_LEFT_DOWN | HORIZ_MID | VERT_RIGHT_DOWN)
 #define D_R (D_ZERO & ~(VERT_RIGHT_DOWN | HORIZ_DOWN))
+#define D_ALT_R (VERT_LEFT_UP | VERT_LEFT_DOWN | HORIZ_UP)
+/* an r in the lower half can only happen when digit boundary detection fails */
+#define D_r (VERT_LEFT_DOWN | HORIZ_MID)
 #define D_P (D_HEX_F | VERT_RIGHT_UP)
 #define D_N (D_ZERO & ~HORIZ_DOWN)
 /* an N in the lower half can only happen when digit boundary detection fails */