diff --git a/markdown/src/plugin.c b/markdown/src/plugin.c
index 9ed4fc5a3..6194617a4 100644
--- a/markdown/src/plugin.c
+++ b/markdown/src/plugin.c
@@ -228,14 +228,14 @@ static gboolean on_idle_handler(MarkdownPlugin *plugin)
   /* Only handle valid Markdown documents */
   if (!DOC_VALID(doc) || g_strcmp0(doc->file_type->name, "Markdown") != 0) {
     markdown_viewer_update_content(plugin->viewer,
-      _("The current document does not have a Markdown filetype."));
+      _("The current document does not have a Markdown filetype."), "UTF-8");
     plugin->handler_ids.update_view = 0;
     return FALSE;
   }
 
   md_text = (gchar*) scintilla_send_message(doc->editor->sci,
     SCI_GETCHARACTERPOINTER, 0, 0);
-  markdown_viewer_update_content(plugin->viewer, md_text);
+  markdown_viewer_update_content(plugin->viewer, md_text, doc->encoding);
 
   plugin->handler_ids.update_view = 0;
 
diff --git a/markdown/src/viewer.c b/markdown/src/viewer.c
index 621fb482e..2f986054d 100644
--- a/markdown/src/viewer.c
+++ b/markdown/src/viewer.c
@@ -109,7 +109,8 @@ void on_viewer_load_status_notify(GObject *obj, GParamSpec *pspec, MarkdownViewe
   }
 }
 
-void markdown_viewer_update_content(MarkdownViewer *viewer, const gchar *text)
+void markdown_viewer_update_content(MarkdownViewer *viewer, const gchar *text,
+  const gchar *encoding)
 {
   g_return_if_fail(viewer);
   gchar *html = markdown_to_html(text);
@@ -122,7 +123,8 @@ void markdown_viewer_update_content(MarkdownViewer *viewer, const gchar *text)
       markdown_template_get_filename(viewer->template));
     g_signal_connect(viewer->webview, "notify::load-status",
       G_CALLBACK(on_viewer_load_status_notify), viewer);
-    webkit_web_view_load_string(viewer->webview, new_text, "text/html", "UTF-8", base_uri);
+    webkit_web_view_load_string(viewer->webview, new_text, "text/html",
+      encoding, base_uri);
     g_free(new_text);
     g_free(base_uri);
   }
diff --git a/markdown/src/viewer.h b/markdown/src/viewer.h
index 22e29d18c..897365cc4 100644
--- a/markdown/src/viewer.h
+++ b/markdown/src/viewer.h
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ void markdown_viewer_set_template(MarkdownViewer *viewer, MarkdownTemplate *tmpl
 void markdown_viewer_show(MarkdownViewer *viewer);
 void markdown_viewer_hide(MarkdownViewer *viewer);
 
-void markdown_viewer_update_content(MarkdownViewer *viewer, const gchar *text);
+void markdown_viewer_update_content(MarkdownViewer *viewer, const gchar *text,
+  const gchar *encoding);
 
 G_END_DECLS