diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index 0137714..3d4f1e8 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
 # Specifies gem version of Rails to use when vendor/rails is not present
 RAILS_GEM_VERSION = '2.3.11' unless defined? RAILS_GEM_VERSION
 
+if RUBY_VERSION >= '1.9'
+  Encoding.default_external = 'UTF-8'
+end
+
 # Bootstrap the Rails environment, frameworks, and default configuration
 require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'boot')