diff --git a/Data/MySQL/include/Poco/Data/MySQL/SessionHandle.h b/Data/MySQL/include/Poco/Data/MySQL/SessionHandle.h
index 34220a870..5b6770ccd 100644
--- a/Data/MySQL/include/Poco/Data/MySQL/SessionHandle.h
+++ b/Data/MySQL/include/Poco/Data/MySQL/SessionHandle.h
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ public:
 	void options(mysql_option opt, bool b);
 		/// Set connection options
 
+	void options(mysql_option opt, const char* c);
+		/// Set connection options
+
 	void options(mysql_option opt, unsigned int i);
 		/// Set connection options
 
diff --git a/Data/MySQL/src/SessionHandle.cpp b/Data/MySQL/src/SessionHandle.cpp
index 900c6b93c..c87e3a8e8 100644
--- a/Data/MySQL/src/SessionHandle.cpp
+++ b/Data/MySQL/src/SessionHandle.cpp
@@ -81,6 +81,14 @@ void SessionHandle::options(mysql_option opt, bool b)
 		throw ConnectionException("mysql_options error", _pHandle);
 }
 
+
+void SessionHandle::options(mysql_option opt, const char* c)
+{
+	if (mysql_options(_pHandle, opt, c) != 0)
+		throw ConnectionException("mysql_options error", _pHandle);
+}
+
+
 void SessionHandle::options(mysql_option opt, unsigned int i)
 {
 #if (POCO_MYSQL_VERSION_NUMBER < 0x050108)
diff --git a/Data/MySQL/src/SessionImpl.cpp b/Data/MySQL/src/SessionImpl.cpp
index 66514d1e4..ed0bc08d4 100644
--- a/Data/MySQL/src/SessionImpl.cpp
+++ b/Data/MySQL/src/SessionImpl.cpp
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ void SessionImpl::open(const std::string& connect)
 	options["compress"] = "";
 	options["auto-reconnect"] = "";
 	options["secure-auth"] = "";
+	options["character-set"] = "utf8";
 
 	const std::string& connString = connectionString();
 	for (std::string::const_iterator start = connString.begin();;) 
@@ -157,6 +158,9 @@ void SessionImpl::open(const std::string& connect)
 	else if (!options["secure-auth"].empty())
 		throw MySQLException("create session: specify correct secure-auth option (true or false) or skip it");
 
+	if (!options["character-set"].empty())
+		_handle.options(MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, options["character-set"].c_str());
+
 	// Real connect
 	_handle.connect(options["host"].c_str(), 
 			options["user"].c_str(),