diff --git a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
index e6091a6f213d..c057d9b86d7d 100644
--- a/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/qgsexternalresourcewidget.cpp
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ void QgsExternalResourceWidget::loadDocument( const QString &path )
 #ifdef WITH_QTWEBKIT
     if ( mDocumentViewerContent == Web )
     {
-      mWebView->setUrl( QUrl( resolvedPath ) );
+      mWebView->setUrl( QUrl::fromEncoded( resolvedPath.toUtf8() ) );
     }
 #endif