diff --git a/templates/library_constructor.c.in b/templates/library_constructor.c.in
index be99a02..6c9e7c5 100644
--- a/templates/library_constructor.c.in
+++ b/templates/library_constructor.c.in
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ void __attribute__ ((constructor)) load_library (void)
   localePath = g_build_filename (soDir, "@LC_RELATIVE_PREFIX@/share/locale", NULL);
   g_free (soDir);
   bindtextdomain (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, localePath);
+  bind_textdomain_codeset (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, "UTF-8");
   g_free (localePath);
 
   @LC_COMMON_CODE@