diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5f8301505..b0793d028 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,13 @@ if("${CMake_SOURCE_DIR}" STREQUAL "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}")
   endmacro()
 endif()
 
+# option to set the internal encoding of CMake to UTF-8
+option(CMAKE_ENCODING_UTF8 "Use UTF-8 encoding internally (experimental)." OFF)
+mark_as_advanced(CMAKE_ENCODING_UTF8)
+if(CMAKE_ENCODING_UTF8)
+  set(KWSYS_ENCODING_DEFAULT_CODEPAGE CP_UTF8)
+endif()
+
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # a macro to deal with system libraries, implemented as a macro
 # simply to improve readability of the main script
diff --git a/Source/CMakeLists.txt b/Source/CMakeLists.txt
index 966e0f68c..9fb8d9a4c 100644
--- a/Source/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Source/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ endif()
 
 set(EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH ${CMake_BIN_DIR})
 
+# ensure Unicode friendly APIs are used on Windows
+if(WIN32)
+  add_definitions(-DUNICODE -D_UNICODE)
+endif()
+
 # configure the .h file
 configure_file(
   "${CMake_SOURCE_DIR}/Source/cmConfigure.cmake.h.in"
diff --git a/Source/QtDialog/CMakeLists.txt b/Source/QtDialog/CMakeLists.txt
index 0dd01d848..4308a4d6f 100644
--- a/Source/QtDialog/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Source/QtDialog/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -55,11 +55,6 @@ else()
   endif()
 endif()
 
-
-if(WIN32 AND KWSYS_ENCODING_DEFAULT_CODEPAGE MATCHES CP_UTF8)
-  add_definitions(-DKWSYS_CP_UTF8)
-endif()
-
 set(SRCS
   AddCacheEntry.cxx
   AddCacheEntry.h
diff --git a/Source/QtDialog/CMakeSetup.cxx b/Source/QtDialog/CMakeSetup.cxx
index 995929e3b..e37bd9d0b 100644
--- a/Source/QtDialog/CMakeSetup.cxx
+++ b/Source/QtDialog/CMakeSetup.cxx
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 
   QApplication app(argc, argv);
 
-#if defined(KWSYS_CP_UTF8)
+#if defined(CMAKE_ENCODING_UTF8)
   QTextCodec* utf8_codec = QTextCodec::codecForName("UTF-8");
   QTextCodec::setCodecForCStrings(utf8_codec);
   QTextCodec::setCodecForLocale(utf8_codec);
diff --git a/Source/cmConfigure.cmake.h.in b/Source/cmConfigure.cmake.h.in
index c5e95d0ca..2b0280db5 100644
--- a/Source/cmConfigure.cmake.h.in
+++ b/Source/cmConfigure.cmake.h.in
@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@
 #cmakedefine HAVE_ENVIRON_NOT_REQUIRE_PROTOTYPE
 #cmakedefine HAVE_UNSETENV
 #cmakedefine CMAKE_USE_ELF_PARSER
+#cmakedefine CMAKE_ENCODING_UTF8
 #define CMAKE_DATA_DIR "/@CMAKE_DATA_DIR@"