diff --git a/src/common/util.cpp b/src/common/util.cpp
index c56c7750545..2a1d49af0f1 100644
--- a/src/common/util.cpp
+++ b/src/common/util.cpp
@@ -939,4 +939,32 @@ std::string get_nix_version_display_string()
     }
     return newval;
   }
+  
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  std::string input_line_win()
+  {
+    HANDLE hConIn = CreateFileW(L"CONIN$", GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE, nullptr, OPEN_EXISTING, 0, nullptr);
+    DWORD oldMode;
+
+    FlushConsoleInputBuffer(hConIn);
+    GetConsoleMode(hConIn, &oldMode);
+    SetConsoleMode(hConIn, ENABLE_LINE_INPUT | ENABLE_ECHO_INPUT | ENABLE_PROCESSED_INPUT);
+
+    wchar_t buffer[1024];
+    DWORD read;
+
+    ReadConsoleW(hConIn, buffer, sizeof(buffer)/sizeof(wchar_t)-1, &read, nullptr);
+    buffer[read] = 0;
+
+    SetConsoleMode(hConIn, oldMode);
+    CloseHandle(hConIn);
+  
+    int size_needed = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, buffer, -1, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL);
+    std::string buf(size_needed, '\0');
+    WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, buffer, -1, &buf[0], size_needed, NULL, NULL);
+    buf.pop_back(); //size_needed includes null that we needed to have space for
+    return buf;
+  }
+#endif
+
 }
diff --git a/src/common/util.h b/src/common/util.h
index 0e0b50520d5..ce773bd386e 100644
--- a/src/common/util.h
+++ b/src/common/util.h
@@ -235,4 +235,7 @@ namespace tools
   boost::optional<std::pair<uint32_t, uint32_t>> parse_subaddress_lookahead(const std::string& str);
 
   std::string glob_to_regex(const std::string &val);
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  std::string input_line_win();
+#endif
 }
diff --git a/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp b/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp
index e535b6d2777..555ea48d858 100644
--- a/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp
+++ b/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp
@@ -138,47 +138,6 @@ namespace
 
   const command_line::arg_descriptor< std::vector<std::string> > arg_command = {"command", ""};
 
-#ifdef WIN32
-  // Translate from CP850 to UTF-8;
-  // std::getline for a Windows console returns a string in CP437 or CP850; as simplewallet,
-  // like all of Monero, is assumed to work internally with UTF-8 throughout, even on Windows
-  // (although only implemented partially), a translation to UTF-8 is needed for input.
-  //
-  // Note that if a program is started inside the MSYS2 shell somebody already translates
-  // console input to UTF-8, but it's not clear how one could detect that in order to avoid
-  // double-translation; this code here thus breaks UTF-8 input within a MSYS2 shell,
-  // unfortunately.
-  //
-  // Note also that input for passwords is NOT translated, to remain compatible with any
-  // passwords containing special characters that predate this switch to UTF-8 support.
-  template<typename T>
-  static T cp850_to_utf8(const T &cp850_str)
-  {
-    boost::locale::generator gen;
-    gen.locale_cache_enabled(true);
-    std::locale loc = gen("en_US.CP850");
-    const boost::locale::conv::method_type how = boost::locale::conv::default_method;
-    T result;
-    const char *begin = cp850_str.data();
-    const char *end = begin + cp850_str.size();
-    result.reserve(end-begin);
-    typedef std::back_insert_iterator<T> inserter_type;
-    inserter_type inserter(result);
-    boost::locale::utf::code_point c;
-    while(begin!=end) {
-        c=boost::locale::utf::utf_traits<char>::template decode<char const *>(begin,end);
-        if(c==boost::locale::utf::illegal || c==boost::locale::utf::incomplete) {
-            if(how==boost::locale::conv::stop)
-                throw boost::locale::conv::conversion_error();
-        }
-        else {
-            boost::locale::utf::utf_traits<char>::template encode<inserter_type>(c,inserter);
-        }
-    }
-    return result;
-  }
-#endif
-
   std::string input_line(const std::string& prompt)
   {
 #ifdef HAVE_READLINE
@@ -187,9 +146,10 @@ namespace
     std::cout << prompt;
 
     std::string buf;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    buf = tools::input_line_win();
+#else
     std::getline(std::cin, buf);
-#ifdef WIN32
-    buf = cp850_to_utf8(buf);
 #endif
 
     return epee::string_tools::trim(buf);