diff --git a/.htaccess b/.htaccess
index 78e6255c87..cf9af3f72d 100644
--- a/.htaccess
+++ b/.htaccess
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ php_value post_max_size 513M
 php_value memory_limit 512M
 php_value mbstring.func_overload 0
 php_value always_populate_raw_post_data -1
+php_value default_charset 'UTF-8'
 <IfModule mod_env.c>
   SetEnv htaccessWorking true
 </IfModule>
diff --git a/.user.ini b/.user.ini
index 09f6a05ff6..ef440b53fe 100644
--- a/.user.ini
+++ b/.user.ini
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ post_max_size=513M
 memory_limit=512M
 mbstring.func_overload=0
 always_populate_raw_post_data=-1
+default_charset='UTF-8'