diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 82363f5..3d724f3 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -104,26 +104,6 @@
                     ],
                     "description": "Specifies whether and how to show blame annotations on the active line. `off` - no annotation. `inline` - adds a trailing annotation to the active line. `hover` - adds hover annotation to the active line. `both` - adds both `inline` and `hover` annotations"
                 },
-                "gitlens.blame.annotation.characters.ellipse": {
-                    "type": "string",
-                    "default": "\u2026",
-                    "description": "Specifies the ellipse character to use in blame annotations"
-                },
-                "gitlens.blame.annotation.characters.indent": {
-                    "type": "string",
-                    "default": "\u2759",
-                    "description": "Specifies the indent character to use in `compact` blame annotations"
-                },
-                "gitlens.blame.annotation.characters.padding": {
-                    "type": "string",
-                    "default": "\u00a0",
-                    "description": "Specifies the padding character (typically a non-breaking space) to use in blame annotations"
-                },
-                "gitlens.blame.annotation.characters.separator": {
-                    "type": "string",
-                    "default": "\u2022",
-                    "description": "Specifies the separator character to use in blame annotations"
-                },
                 "gitlens.codeLens.visibility": {
                     "type": "string",
                     "default": "auto",
diff --git a/src/blameAnnotationFormatter.ts b/src/blameAnnotationFormatter.ts
index 5b440e0..5a11e49 100644
--- a/src/blameAnnotationFormatter.ts
+++ b/src/blameAnnotationFormatter.ts
@@ -8,23 +8,6 @@ export const defaultRelativeDateLength = 13;
 export const defaultAuthorLength = 16;
 export const defaultMessageLength = 32;
 
-const defaultCssEllipse = '\u2026';
-const defaultCssIndent = '\u2759';
-const defaultCssPadding = '\u00a0';
-const defaultCssSeparator = '\u2022';
-
-export let cssEllipse = defaultCssEllipse;
-export let cssIndent = defaultCssIndent;
-export let cssPadding = defaultCssPadding;
-export let cssSeparator = defaultCssSeparator;
-
-export function configureCssCharacters(config: IBlameConfig) {
-    cssEllipse = config.annotation.characters.ellipse || defaultCssEllipse;
-    cssIndent = config.annotation.characters.indent || defaultCssIndent;
-    cssPadding = config.annotation.characters.padding || defaultCssSeparator;
-    cssSeparator = config.annotation.characters.separator || defaultCssSeparator;
-}
-
 export enum BlameAnnotationFormat {
     Constrained,
     Unconstrained
@@ -39,10 +22,10 @@ export class BlameAnnotationFormatter {
         if (format === BlameAnnotationFormat.Unconstrained) {
             const authorAndDate = this.getAuthorAndDate(config, commit, config.annotation.dateFormat || 'MMMM Do, YYYY h:MMa');
             if (config.annotation.sha) {
-                message = `${sha}${(authorAndDate ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${authorAndDate}` : '')}${(message ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${message}` : '')}`;
+                message = `${sha}${(authorAndDate ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${authorAndDate}` : '')}${(message ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${message}` : '')}`;
             }
             else if (config.annotation.author || config.annotation.date) {
-                message = `${authorAndDate}${(message ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${message}` : '')}`;
+                message = `${authorAndDate}${(message ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${message}` : '')}`;
             }
 
             return message;
@@ -51,13 +34,13 @@ export class BlameAnnotationFormatter {
         const author = this.getAuthor(config, commit, defaultAuthorLength);
         const date = this.getDate(config, commit, config.annotation.dateFormat || 'MM/DD/YYYY', true);
         if (config.annotation.sha) {
-            message = `${sha}${(author ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${author}` : '')}${(date ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${date}` : '')}${(message ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${message}` : '')}`;
+            message = `${sha}${(author ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${author}` : '')}${(date ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${date}` : '')}${(message ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${message}` : '')}`;
         }
         else if (config.annotation.author) {
-            message = `${author}${(date ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${date}` : '')}${(message ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${message}` : '')}`;
+            message = `${author}${(date ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${date}` : '')}${(message ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${message}` : '')}`;
         }
         else if (config.annotation.date) {
-            message = `${date}${(message ? `${cssPadding}${cssSeparator}${cssPadding}${message}` : '')}`;
+            message = `${date}${(message ? `\u00a0\u2022\u00a0${message}` : '')}`;
         }
 
         return message;
@@ -93,11 +76,11 @@ export class BlameAnnotationFormatter {
         if (!truncateTo) return author;
 
         if (author.length > truncateTo) {
-            return `${author.substring(0, truncateTo - cssEllipse.length)}${cssEllipse}`;
+            return `${author.substring(0, truncateTo - 1)}\u2026`;
         }
 
         if (force) return author; // Don't pad when just asking for the value
-        return author + cssPadding.repeat(truncateTo - author.length);
+        return author + '\u00a0'.repeat(truncateTo - author.length);
     }
 
     static getDate(config: IBlameConfig, commit: GitCommit, format: string, truncate: boolean = false, force: boolean = false) {
@@ -110,11 +93,11 @@ export class BlameAnnotationFormatter {
 
         const truncateTo = config.annotation.date === 'relative' ? defaultRelativeDateLength : defaultAbsoluteDateLength;
         if (date.length > truncateTo) {
-            return `${date.substring(0, truncateTo - cssEllipse.length)}${cssEllipse}`;
+            return `${date.substring(0, truncateTo - 1)}\u2026`;
         }
 
         if (force) return date; // Don't pad when just asking for the value
-        return date + cssPadding.repeat(truncateTo - date.length);
+        return date + '\u00a0'.repeat(truncateTo - date.length);
     }
 
     static getMessage(config: IBlameConfig, commit: GitCommit, truncateTo: number = 0, force: boolean = false) {
@@ -122,7 +105,7 @@ export class BlameAnnotationFormatter {
 
         let message = commit.isUncommitted ? 'Uncommitted change' : commit.message;
         if (truncateTo && message.length > truncateTo) {
-            return `${message.substring(0, truncateTo - cssEllipse.length)}${cssEllipse}`;
+            return `${message.substring(0, truncateTo - 1)}\u2026`;
         }
 
         return message;
diff --git a/src/blameAnnotationProvider.ts b/src/blameAnnotationProvider.ts
index f06e5d2..590009c 100644
--- a/src/blameAnnotationProvider.ts
+++ b/src/blameAnnotationProvider.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 import { Iterables } from './system';
 import { DecorationInstanceRenderOptions, DecorationOptions, Disposable, ExtensionContext, Range, TextDocument, TextEditor, TextEditorSelectionChangeEvent, window, workspace } from 'vscode';
-import { BlameAnnotationFormat, BlameAnnotationFormatter, cssIndent, defaultAuthorLength } from './blameAnnotationFormatter';
+import { BlameAnnotationFormat, BlameAnnotationFormatter, defaultAuthorLength } from './blameAnnotationFormatter';
 import { BlameDecorations } from './blameAnnotationController';
 import { TextDocumentComparer } from './comparers';
 import { BlameAnnotationStyle, IBlameConfig } from './configuration';
@@ -170,13 +170,13 @@ export class BlameAnnotationProvider extends Disposable {
                         gutter = commit.shortSha;
                         break;
                     case 1:
-                        gutter = `${cssIndent} ${BlameAnnotationFormatter.getAuthor(this._config, commit, defaultAuthorLength, true)}`;
+                        gutter = `\u2759 ${BlameAnnotationFormatter.getAuthor(this._config, commit, defaultAuthorLength, true)}`;
                         break;
                     case 2:
-                        gutter = `${cssIndent} ${BlameAnnotationFormatter.getDate(this._config, commit, this._config.annotation.dateFormat || 'MM/DD/YYYY', true, true)}`;
+                        gutter = `\u2759 ${BlameAnnotationFormatter.getDate(this._config, commit, this._config.annotation.dateFormat || 'MM/DD/YYYY', true, true)}`;
                         break;
                     default:
-                        gutter = `${cssIndent}`;
+                        gutter = `\u2759`;
                         break;
                 }
             }
diff --git a/src/configuration.ts b/src/configuration.ts
index 927d685..2ff49f0 100644
--- a/src/configuration.ts
+++ b/src/configuration.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,6 @@ export interface IBlameConfig {
         dateFormat: string;
         message: boolean;
         activeLine: 'off' | 'inline' | 'hover' | 'both';
-        characters: {
-            ellipse: string;
-            indent: string;
-            padding: string;
-            separator: string;
-        }
     };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/extension.ts b/src/extension.ts
index bfe595d..2200a50 100644
--- a/src/extension.ts
+++ b/src/extension.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { Objects } from './system';
 import { commands, ExtensionContext, extensions, languages, Uri, window, workspace } from 'vscode';
 import { BlameActiveLineController } from './blameActiveLineController';
 import { BlameAnnotationController } from './blameAnnotationController';
-import { configureCssCharacters } from './blameAnnotationFormatter';
 import { CommandContext, setCommandContext } from './commands';
 import { CloseUnchangedFilesCommand, OpenChangedFilesCommand } from './commands';
 import { OpenCommitInRemoteCommand, OpenFileInRemoteCommand, OpenInRemoteCommand } from './commands';
@@ -40,8 +39,6 @@ export async function activate(context: ExtensionContext) {
     const config = workspace.getConfiguration('').get<IConfig>('gitlens');
     const gitPath = config.advanced.git;
 
-    configureCssCharacters(config.blame);
-
     try {
         await Git.getGitPath(gitPath);
     }