diff --git a/share/qt/extract_strings_qt.py b/share/qt/extract_strings_qt.py
index 4f294a9b40..33861ac96a 100755
--- a/share/qt/extract_strings_qt.py
+++ b/share/qt/extract_strings_qt.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ if not XGETTEXT:
     print('Cannot extract strings: xgettext utility is not installed or not configured.',file=sys.stderr)
     print('Please install package "gettext" and re-run \'./configure\'.',file=sys.stderr)
     sys.exit(1)
-child = Popen([XGETTEXT,'--output=-','-n','--keyword=_'] + files, stdout=PIPE)
+child = Popen([XGETTEXT,'--output=-','--from-code=utf-8','-n','--keyword=_'] + files, stdout=PIPE)
 (out, err) = child.communicate()
 
 messages = parse_po(out.decode('utf-8'))