diff --git a/WINGs/wapplication.c b/WINGs/wapplication.c
index 1cf6e08f..2c53f3a1 100644
--- a/WINGs/wapplication.c
+++ b/WINGs/wapplication.c
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ WMInitializeApplication(char *applicationName, int *argc, char **argv)
         bindtextdomain("WINGs", getenv("NLSPATH"));
     else
         bindtextdomain("WINGs", LOCALEDIR);
+    bind_textdomain_codeset("WINGs", "UTF-8");
 #endif
 
     _WINGS_progname = argv[0];
diff --git a/WPrefs.app/main.c b/WPrefs.app/main.c
index 8313f508..7425a7f0 100644
--- a/WPrefs.app/main.c
+++ b/WPrefs.app/main.c
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
         bindtextdomain("WPrefs", getenv("NLSPATH"));
     else
         bindtextdomain("WPrefs", LOCALEDIR);
+    bind_textdomain_codeset("WPrefs", "UTF-8");
     textdomain("WPrefs");
 
     if (!XSupportsLocale()) {
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index c7bd3f79..14260a69 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -778,6 +778,7 @@ real_main(int argc, char **argv)
         bindtextdomain("WindowMaker", getenv("NLSPATH"));
     else
         bindtextdomain("WindowMaker", LOCALEDIR);
+    bind_textdomain_codeset("WindowMaker", "UTF-8");
     textdomain("WindowMaker");
 
     if (!XSupportsLocale()) {