diff --git a/src/x11/app.cpp b/src/x11/app.cpp
index 42749948e2..2f2a28be29 100644
--- a/src/x11/app.cpp
+++ b/src/x11/app.cpp
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ bool wxApp::Initialize()
 {
     wxClassInfo::InitializeClasses();
 
+#if wxUSE_INTL
+    wxFont::SetDefaultEncoding(wxLocale::GetSystemEncoding());
+#endif
+
     // GL: I'm annoyed ... I don't know where to put this and I don't want to
     // create a module for that as it's part of the core.
 #if wxUSE_THREADS