diff --git a/src/openedx_content/applets/collections/models.py b/src/openedx_content/applets/collections/models.py
index a1c0fa4a4..ecea3005c 100644
--- a/src/openedx_content/applets/collections/models.py
+++ b/src/openedx_content/applets/collections/models.py
@@ -109,7 +109,8 @@ class Collection(models.Model):
     # collection's opaque key:
     # e.g. "lib-collection:{org_code}:{library_code}:{collection_code}"
     #       is the opaque key for a library collection.
-    collection_code = code_field()
+    # TODO: Consider supporting unicode https://github.com/openedx/openedx-platform/issues/38413
+    collection_code = code_field(unicode=False)
 
     title = case_insensitive_char_field(
         null=False,
@@ -179,7 +180,7 @@ class Meta:
                 ],
                 name="oel_coll_uniq_lp_key",
             ),
-            code_field_check("collection_code", name="oel_coll_collection_code_regex"),
+            code_field_check("collection_code", name="oel_coll_collection_code_regex", unicode=False),
         ]
         indexes = [
             models.Index(
diff --git a/src/openedx_content/applets/components/models.py b/src/openedx_content/applets/components/models.py
index 1852aae6f..5dd0dee7c 100644
--- a/src/openedx_content/applets/components/models.py
+++ b/src/openedx_content/applets/components/models.py
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ def pk(self):
     # component_code is an identifier that is local to the learning_package and
     # component_type. The publishable.entity_ref is derived from component_type
     # and component_code.
-    component_code = code_field()
+    component_code = code_field(unicode=True)
 
     class Meta:
         constraints = [
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ class Meta:
                 ],
                 name="oel_component_uniq_lc_ct_lk",
             ),
-            code_field_check("component_code", name="oel_component_code_regex"),
+            code_field_check("component_code", name="oel_component_code_regex", unicode=True),
         ]
         indexes = [
             # Global Component-Type/Component-Code Index:
diff --git a/src/openedx_content/applets/containers/models.py b/src/openedx_content/applets/containers/models.py
index 8f9de8d23..c234b04b5 100644
--- a/src/openedx_content/applets/containers/models.py
+++ b/src/openedx_content/applets/containers/models.py
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ class Container(PublishableEntityMixin):
     # container_code is an identifier that is local to the learning_package.
     # Unlike component_code, it is unique across all container types within
     # the same LearningPackage.
-    container_code = code_field()
+    container_code = code_field(unicode=True)
 
     @property
     def id(self) -> ID:
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ class Meta:
                 fields=["learning_package", "container_code"],
                 name="oel_container_uniq_lp_cc",
             ),
-            code_field_check("container_code", name="oel_container_code_regex"),
+            code_field_check("container_code", name="oel_container_code_regex", unicode=True),
         ]
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/src/openedx_content/migrations/0009_rename_component_local_key_to_component_code.py b/src/openedx_content/migrations/0009_rename_component_local_key_to_component_code.py
index 3879c55b6..06246eedb 100644
--- a/src/openedx_content/migrations/0009_rename_component_local_key_to_component_code.py
+++ b/src/openedx_content/migrations/0009_rename_component_local_key_to_component_code.py
@@ -59,7 +59,14 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
         migrations.AddConstraint(
             model_name='component',
             constraint=models.CheckConstraint(
-                condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('component_code'), '^[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+\\Z'),
+                # The original version of this migration had an ascii-only regex constraint,
+                # matching the django-level RegexValidator defined above. However,
+                # that constraint caused an IntegrityError on some dev sites with non-ascii component
+                # codes in libraries, which technically we allow. So, we've loosened this constraint
+                # just to ensure that the migration applies cleanly. Migration 0013 will re-create
+                # the constraint and validator to be unicode-friendly, regardless of whether 0009
+                # was applied with the ascii-only or unicode-friendly constraint.
+                condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('component_code'), '^[\\w.-]+\\Z'),
                 name='oel_component_code_regex',
                 violation_error_message='Enter a valid "code name" consisting of letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.',
             ),
diff --git a/src/openedx_content/migrations/0010_add_container_code.py b/src/openedx_content/migrations/0010_add_container_code.py
index 4dc83cd6a..afd49df93 100644
--- a/src/openedx_content/migrations/0010_add_container_code.py
+++ b/src/openedx_content/migrations/0010_add_container_code.py
@@ -89,7 +89,14 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
         migrations.AddConstraint(
             model_name='container',
             constraint=models.CheckConstraint(
-                condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('container_code'), '^[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+\\Z'),
+                # The original version of this migration had an ascii-only regex constraint,
+                # matching the django-level RegexValidator defined above. However,
+                # that constraint caused an IntegrityError on some dev sites with non-ascii component
+                # codes in libraries, which technically we allow. So, we've loosened this constraint
+                # just to ensure that the migration applies cleanly. Migration 0013 will re-create
+                # the constraint and validator to be unicode-friendly, regardless of whether 0010
+                # was applied with the ascii-only or unicode-friendly constraint.
+                condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('container_code'), '^[\\w.-]+\\Z'),
                 name='oel_container_code_regex',
                 violation_error_message='Enter a valid "code name" consisting of letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.',
             ),
diff --git a/src/openedx_content/migrations/0013_unicode_container_component_codes.py b/src/openedx_content/migrations/0013_unicode_container_component_codes.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e944ce2fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/openedx_content/migrations/0013_unicode_container_component_codes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.13 on 2026-04-23 14:15
+
+import re
+
+import django.core.validators
+import django.db.models.lookups
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+import openedx_django_lib.fields
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('openedx_content', '0012_rename_componentversionmedia_key_to_path'),
+        migrations.swappable_dependency(settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        # For the vast majority of sites, re-creating these constraints is redundant with
+        # 0009-0010. But, a handful of developers had applied 0009 and 0010 when they contained
+        # ascii-only constraints. Re-creating the constraints here ensure that everyone's on
+        # the same page with identical, unicode-friendly constraints.
+        migrations.RemoveConstraint(
+            model_name='component',
+            name='oel_component_code_regex',
+        ),
+        migrations.RemoveConstraint(
+            model_name='container',
+            name='oel_container_code_regex',
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='collection',
+            name='collection_code',
+            field=openedx_django_lib.fields.MultiCollationCharField(db_collations={'mysql': 'utf8mb4_bin', 'sqlite': 'BINARY'}, max_length=255, validators=[django.core.validators.RegexValidator(re.compile('^[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+\\Z'), 'Enter a valid "code name" consisting of latin letters (A-Z, a-z), numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.', 'invalid')]),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='component',
+            name='component_code',
+            field=openedx_django_lib.fields.MultiCollationCharField(db_collations={'mysql': 'utf8mb4_bin', 'sqlite': 'BINARY'}, max_length=255, validators=[django.core.validators.RegexValidator(re.compile('^[\\w.-]+\\Z'), 'Enter a valid "code name" consisting of any letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.', 'invalid')]),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='container',
+            name='container_code',
+            field=openedx_django_lib.fields.MultiCollationCharField(db_collations={'mysql': 'utf8mb4_bin', 'sqlite': 'BINARY'}, max_length=255, validators=[django.core.validators.RegexValidator(re.compile('^[\\w.-]+\\Z'), 'Enter a valid "code name" consisting of any letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.', 'invalid')]),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddConstraint(
+            model_name='component',
+            constraint=models.CheckConstraint(condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('component_code'), '^[\\w.-]+\\Z'), name='oel_component_code_regex', violation_error_message='Enter a valid "code name" consisting of any letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddConstraint(
+            model_name='container',
+            constraint=models.CheckConstraint(condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('container_code'), '^[\\w.-]+\\Z'), name='oel_container_code_regex', violation_error_message='Enter a valid "code name" consisting of any letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterConstraint(
+            model_name='collection',
+            name='oel_coll_collection_code_regex',
+            constraint=models.CheckConstraint(condition=django.db.models.lookups.Regex(models.F('collection_code'), '^[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+\\Z'), name='oel_coll_collection_code_regex', violation_error_message='Enter a valid "code name" consisting of latin letters (A-Z, a-z), numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.'),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/src/openedx_core/__init__.py b/src/openedx_core/__init__.py
index 415ef3d66..100ec7520 100644
--- a/src/openedx_core/__init__.py
+++ b/src/openedx_core/__init__.py
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@
 """
 
 # The version for the entire repository
-__version__ = "0.43.0"
+__version__ = "0.44.0"
diff --git a/src/openedx_django_lib/fields.py b/src/openedx_django_lib/fields.py
index 20f7a0125..c6f1b1ee3 100644
--- a/src/openedx_django_lib/fields.py
+++ b/src/openedx_django_lib/fields.py
@@ -119,15 +119,21 @@ def immutable_uuid_field() -> models.UUIDField:
 
 
 # Alphanumeric, hyphens, underscores, periods
-CODE_REGEX = re.compile(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+\Z")
+CODE_REGEX_ASCII = re.compile(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+\Z")
 
+# Anything which passes isalnum(), plus underscores, hyphens, and periods
+CODE_REGEX_UNICODE = re.compile(r"^[\w.-]+\Z", flags=re.UNICODE)
 
-_CODE_VIOLATION_MSG = _(
-    'Enter a valid "code name" consisting of letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.'
+_CODE_VIOLATION_MSG_ASCII = _(
+    'Enter a valid "code name" consisting of latin letters (A-Z, a-z), numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.'
+)
+
+_CODE_VIOLATION_MSG_UNICODE = _(
+    'Enter a valid "code name" consisting of any letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods.'
 )
 
 
-def code_field(**kwargs) -> MultiCollationCharField:
+def code_field(unicode: bool, **kwargs) -> MultiCollationCharField:
     """
     Field to hold a 'code', i.e. a slug-like local identifier.
 
@@ -139,9 +145,8 @@ def code_field(**kwargs) -> MultiCollationCharField:
         blank=False,
         validators=[
             RegexValidator(
-                CODE_REGEX,
-                # Translators: "letters" means latin letters: a-z and A-Z.
-                _CODE_VIOLATION_MSG,
+                CODE_REGEX_UNICODE if unicode else CODE_REGEX_ASCII,
+                _CODE_VIOLATION_MSG_UNICODE if unicode else _CODE_VIOLATION_MSG_ASCII,
                 "invalid",
             ),
         ],
@@ -149,9 +154,9 @@ def code_field(**kwargs) -> MultiCollationCharField:
     )
 
 
-def code_field_check(field_name: str, *, name: str) -> models.CheckConstraint:
+def code_field_check(field_name: str, *, name: str, unicode: bool) -> models.CheckConstraint:
     """
-    Return a ``CheckConstraint`` that enforces :data:`CODE_REGEX` at the DB level.
+    Return a ``CheckConstraint`` that enforces :data:`CODE_REGEX_UNICODE` or :data:`CODE_REGEX_ASCII` at the DB level.
 
     Django validators (used by :func:`code_field`) are not called on ``.save()``
     or ``.update()``.  Adding this constraint ensures the regex is also enforced
@@ -162,13 +167,22 @@ def code_field_check(field_name: str, *, name: str) -> models.CheckConstraint:
 
         class Meta:
             constraints = [
-                code_field_check("my_code_field", name="myapp_mymodel_my_code_field_regex"),
+                code_field_check(
+                    "my_code_field",
+                    name="myapp_mymodel_my_code_field_regex",
+                    unicode=True/False,  # Make sure this matches the code_field!
+                ),
             ]
     """
     return models.CheckConstraint(
-        condition=Regex(models.F(field_name), CODE_REGEX.pattern),
+        condition=Regex(
+            models.F(field_name),
+            (CODE_REGEX_UNICODE if unicode else CODE_REGEX_ASCII).pattern,
+        ),
         name=name,
-        violation_error_message=_CODE_VIOLATION_MSG,
+        violation_error_message=(
+            _CODE_VIOLATION_MSG_UNICODE if unicode else _CODE_VIOLATION_MSG_ASCII
+        ),
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/openedx_content/applets/collections/test_api.py b/tests/openedx_content/applets/collections/test_api.py
index 9eb78224e..76d234dc2 100644
--- a/tests/openedx_content/applets/collections/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/openedx_content/applets/collections/test_api.py
@@ -229,6 +229,8 @@ def test_create_collection_invalid_code(self):
             "has@symbol",
             "has/slash",
             "has#hash",
+            "café",  # non-ascii letters not allowed for collection_code
+            "柏倉隆史",
         ]
         for code in invalid_codes:
             with self.subTest(code=code):
diff --git a/tests/openedx_content/applets/components/test_api.py b/tests/openedx_content/applets/components/test_api.py
index b6960a226..785a142e3 100644
--- a/tests/openedx_content/applets/components/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/openedx_content/applets/components/test_api.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User as UserType  # pylint: disable=imported-auth-user
 from django.core.exceptions import ObjectDoesNotExist
+from django.db import IntegrityError
 from django.test import TestCase
 
 from openedx_content.applets.collections import api as collection_api
@@ -385,6 +386,37 @@ def test_exists_by_code(self):
             component_code='not_my_component',
         )
 
+    def test_unicode_code(self):
+        """component_code supports non-ascii letters."""
+        unicode_code = "柏倉隆史"
+        component = components_api.create_component(
+            self.learning_package.id,
+            component_type=self.problem_type,
+            component_code=unicode_code,
+            created=self.now,
+            created_by=None,
+        )
+        assert component.component_code == unicode_code
+        assert components_api.get_component_by_code(
+            self.learning_package.id,
+            namespace='xblock.v1',
+            type_name='problem',
+            component_code=unicode_code,
+        ).id == component.id
+
+    def test_create_container_fails_with_invalid_chars(self):
+        """component_code does NOT support whitespace, most symbols, emoji"""
+        for invalid_code in ["a b", "a,b", "a:b", "a☃b"]:
+            with self.subTest(invalid_code=invalid_code):
+                with self.assertRaisesRegex(IntegrityError, r'.*oel_component_code_regex.*'):
+                    components_api.create_component(
+                        self.learning_package.id,
+                        component_type=self.problem_type,
+                        component_code=invalid_code,
+                        created=self.now,
+                        created_by=None,
+                    )
+
 
 class CreateNewVersionsTestCase(ComponentTestCase):
     """
diff --git a/tests/openedx_content/applets/containers/test_api.py b/tests/openedx_content/applets/containers/test_api.py
index 01fa81664..0e16b0d9f 100644
--- a/tests/openedx_content/applets/containers/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/openedx_content/applets/containers/test_api.py
@@ -349,6 +349,21 @@ def test_create_generic_empty_container(lp: LearningPackage, admin_user) -> None
         containers_api.get_container_children_count(container, published=True)
 
 
+def test_unicode_code(lp: LearningPackage) -> None:
+    """container_code supports non-ascii letters."""
+    unicode_code = "柏倉隆史"
+    container, _ = containers_api.create_container_and_version(
+        lp.id,
+        container_code=unicode_code,
+        title="Unicode Container",
+        container_cls=TestContainer,
+        created=now,
+        created_by=None,
+    )
+    assert container.container_code == unicode_code
+    assert containers_api.get_container_by_code(lp.id, unicode_code).id == container.id
+
+
 def test_create_container_queries(lp: LearningPackage, child_entity1: TestEntity, django_assert_num_queries) -> None:
     """Test how many database queries are required to create a container."""
     base_args: dict[str, Any] = {