diff --git a/allegro-legacy/src/file.c b/allegro-legacy/src/file.c
index 51ec919882..c4f56adff0 100644
--- a/allegro-legacy/src/file.c
+++ b/allegro-legacy/src/file.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ static PACKFILE_VTABLE normal_vtable;
 
 static PACKFILE *pack_fopen_special_file(AL_CONST char *filename, AL_CONST char *mode);
 
-static int filename_encoding = U_ASCII;
+static int filename_encoding = U_UTF8;
 
 
 #define FA_DAT_FLAGS  (FA_RDONLY | FA_ARCH)
diff --git a/src/launcher/launcher.cpp b/src/launcher/launcher.cpp
index d0c8a0cab4..4e444ebb05 100644
--- a/src/launcher/launcher.cpp
+++ b/src/launcher/launcher.cpp
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ int32_t main(int32_t argc, char* argv[])
 {
 	common_main_setup(App::launcher, argc, argv);
 
-	set_uformat(U_ASCII);
 	zc_srand(time(0));
 	
 	
diff --git a/src/zc/title.cpp b/src/zc/title.cpp
index b901ca38c6..adbfc467d5 100644
--- a/src/zc/title.cpp
+++ b/src/zc/title.cpp
@@ -671,8 +671,6 @@ static void DX_mainscreen(int32_t f)
 	FFCore.skip_ending_credits = 0;
 	for ( int32_t q = 0; q < 256; q++ ) runningItemScripts[q] = 0; //Clear scripts that were running before. 
 	
-	set_uformat(U_ASCII);
-	
 	static int32_t pic=0;
 	//char tbuf[80];
 	char tbuf[2048] = {0}; char tbuf2[2048] = {0};
@@ -895,8 +893,6 @@ static void v25_mainscreen(int32_t f)
 	FFCore.skip_ending_credits = 0;
 	for ( int32_t q = 0; q < 256; q++ ) runningItemScripts[q] = 0; //Clear scripts that were running before. 
 	
-	set_uformat(U_ASCII);
-	
 	static int32_t pic=0;
 	//char tbuf[80];
 	char tbuf[2048] = {0}; char tbuf2[2048] = {0};
diff --git a/src/zc/zelda.cpp b/src/zc/zelda.cpp
index 201daac0b1..3e2428281d 100644
--- a/src/zc/zelda.cpp
+++ b/src/zc/zelda.cpp
@@ -4795,8 +4795,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	
 	mididata = (DATAFILE*)datafile[ZC_MIDI].dat;
 	
-	set_uformat(U_ASCII);
-	
 	allocate_crap();
 	
 	//script drawing bitmap allocation
diff --git a/src/zq/zquest.cpp b/src/zq/zquest.cpp
index 546bf72e33..3f9273acd7 100644
--- a/src/zq/zquest.cpp
+++ b/src/zq/zquest.cpp
@@ -28808,9 +28808,6 @@ int32_t main(int32_t argc,char **argv)
 	
 	
 	zc_srand(time(0));
-	
-	
-	set_uformat(U_ASCII);
 
 	Z_message("Initializing Allegro... ");
 	if(!al_init())