diff --git a/src/gtk/font.cpp b/src/gtk/font.cpp
index 11e7b20c64..94cc8e66d5 100644
--- a/src/gtk/font.cpp
+++ b/src/gtk/font.cpp
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ void wxFontRefData::Init(int pointSize,
 
     m_underlined = underlined;
     m_encoding = encoding;
+    if ( m_encoding == wxFONTENCODING_DEFAULT )
+        m_encoding = wxFont::GetDefaultEncoding();
 
     m_noAA = false;