diff --git a/kmmessage.cpp b/kmmessage.cpp
index c69addd3b..ff47bcdf7 100644
--- a/kmmessage.cpp
+++ b/kmmessage.cpp
@@ -1399,7 +1399,7 @@ void KMMessage::setHeaderField(const QString& aName, const QString& bValue)
   DwField* field;
   QString aValue = "";
   if (!bValue.isEmpty())
-    aValue = encodeRFC2047String(bValue);
+    aValue = encodeRFC2047String(bValue, charset());
 
   if (aName.isEmpty()) return;
 
@@ -1829,7 +1829,7 @@ void KMMessage::addBodyPart(const KMMessagePart* aPart)
   QString subtype  = aPart->subtypeStr();
   QString cte      = aPart->cteStr();
   QString contDesc = KMMsgBase::encodeRFC2047String(aPart->
-    contentDescription());
+    contentDescription(), charset());
   QString contDisp = aPart->contentDisposition();
   QString name     = KMMsgBase::encodeRFC2231String(aPart->name());
   bool RFC2231encoded = aPart->name() != name;
diff --git a/kmmsgbase.cpp b/kmmsgbase.cpp
index 2ce134108..03164b766 100644
--- a/kmmsgbase.cpp
+++ b/kmmsgbase.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 // kmmsgbase.cpp
 
 #include <kdebug.h>
+#include <kglobal.h>
+#include <klocale.h>
 
 #include "kmmsgbase.h"
 #include <mimelib/mimepp.h>
+#include <qtextcodec.h>
 #include <qregexp.h>
 #ifndef KRN
 #include <kmfolder.h>
@@ -365,10 +368,17 @@ const QString KMMsgBase::decodeRFC1522String(const QString& _str)
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 const char especials[17] = "()<>@,;:\"/[]?.= ";
 
-const QString KMMsgBase::encodeRFC2047String(const QString& _str)
+const QString KMMsgBase::encodeRFC2047String(const QString& _str,
+  const QString& charset)
 {
   if (_str.isEmpty()) return _str;
-  QCString latin = _str.local8Bit();
+  QString cset;
+  if (charset.isEmpty()) cset = KGlobal::locale()->charset();
+    else cset = charset;
+  QTextCodec *codec = QTextCodec::codecForName(cset);
+  QCString latin;
+  if (codec) latin = codec->fromUnicode(_str);
+    else latin = _str.local8Bit();
   int cr, start, stop, pos = 0;
   int latinLen = latin.length();
   char hexcode;
@@ -403,7 +413,7 @@ const QString KMMsgBase::encodeRFC2047String(const QString& _str)
         if (stop <= start) stop = cr;
       } else stop = cr;
       while (pos < start) { result += latin[pos]; pos++; }
-      result += QString("=?iso-8859-1?q?");
+      result += QString("=?%1?q?").arg(cset);
       while (pos < stop)
       {
         numQuotes = 0;
diff --git a/kmmsgbase.h b/kmmsgbase.h
index c4f1d08b7..51880cd0c 100644
--- a/kmmsgbase.h
+++ b/kmmsgbase.h
@@ -123,13 +123,14 @@ public:
   static const QString decodeBase64(const QString& str);
   static const QString encodeBase64(const QString& str);
 
-  /** This function handles both encodings described in RFC1522:
+  /** This function handles both encodings described in RFC2047:
     Base64 ("=?iso-8859-1?b?...?=") and quoted-printable */
   static const QString decodeRFC1522String(const QString& aStr);
 
-  /** Encode given string as described in RFC2047 (update for RFC1522)
+  /** Encode given string as described in RFC2047: 
     using quoted-printable. */
-  static const QString encodeRFC2047String(const QString& aStr);
+  static const QString encodeRFC2047String(const QString& aStr,
+    const QString& charset);
 
   /** Encode given string as described in RFC2231
     (parameters in MIME headers) */