diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
index c0b47f516..e09ff0f22 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
@@ -579,23 +579,27 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implement
 		private Writer getBufferedWriter(FileChannel fileChannel, String encoding) {
 			try {
 				final FileChannel channel = fileChannel;
-				Writer writer = new BufferedWriter(Channels.newWriter(fileChannel, encoding)) {
-					@Override
-					public void flush() throws IOException {
-						super.flush();
-						if (forceSync) {
-							channel.force(false);
-						}
-					}
-				};
 				if (transactional) {
-					return new TransactionAwareBufferedWriter(channel, new Runnable() {
+					TransactionAwareBufferedWriter writer = new TransactionAwareBufferedWriter(channel, new Runnable() {
 						public void run() {
 							closeStream();
 						}
 					});
+					
+					writer.setEncoding(encoding);
+					return writer;
 				}
 				else {
+					Writer writer = new BufferedWriter(Channels.newWriter(fileChannel, encoding)) {
+						@Override
+						public void flush() throws IOException {
+							super.flush();
+							if (forceSync) {
+								channel.force(false);
+							}
+						}
+					};
+
 					return new BufferedWriter(writer);
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
index 003ee1c77..e427c94c0 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
@@ -409,23 +409,26 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implemen
 
 		try {
 			final FileChannel channel = fileChannel;
-			Writer writer = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(os, encoding)) {
-				@Override
-				public void flush() throws IOException {
-					super.flush();
-					if (forceSync) {
-						channel.force(false);
-					}
-				}
-			};
 			if (transactional) {
-				bufferedWriter = new TransactionAwareBufferedWriter(channel, new Runnable() {
+				TransactionAwareBufferedWriter writer = new TransactionAwareBufferedWriter(channel, new Runnable() {
 					public void run() {
 						closeStream();
 					}
 				});
+				
+				writer.setEncoding(encoding);
+				bufferedWriter = writer;
 			}
 			else {
+				Writer writer = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(os, encoding)) {
+					@Override
+					public void flush() throws IOException {
+						super.flush();
+						if (forceSync) {
+							channel.force(false);
+						}
+					}
+				};
 				bufferedWriter = writer;
 			}
 			delegateEventWriter = createXmlEventWriter(outputFactory, bufferedWriter);
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/support/transaction/TransactionAwareBufferedWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/support/transaction/TransactionAwareBufferedWriter.java
index 24ca2ee4f..73fa5fd6d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/support/transaction/TransactionAwareBufferedWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/support/transaction/TransactionAwareBufferedWriter.java
@@ -47,7 +47,12 @@ public class TransactionAwareBufferedWriter extends Writer {
 	private FileChannel channel;
 
 	private final Runnable closeCallback;
-
+	
+	// default encoding for writing to output files - set to UTF-8.
+	private static final String DEFAULT_CHARSET = "UTF-8";
+	
+	private String encoding = DEFAULT_CHARSET;
+	
 	/**
 	 * Create a new instance with the underlying file channel provided, and a callback
 	 * to execute on close. The callback should clean up related resources like
@@ -64,6 +69,10 @@ public class TransactionAwareBufferedWriter extends Writer {
 		this.closeKey = CLOSE_KEY_PREFIX + "." + hashCode();
 	}
 
+	public void setEncoding(String encoding) {
+		this.encoding = encoding;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @return
 	 */
@@ -95,8 +104,9 @@ public class TransactionAwareBufferedWriter extends Writer {
 					StringBuffer buffer = (StringBuffer) TransactionSynchronizationManager.getResource(bufferKey);
 					if (buffer != null) {
 						String string = buffer.toString();
-						int bufferLength = string.length();
-						ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.wrap(string.getBytes());
+						byte[] bytes = string.getBytes(encoding);
+						int bufferLength = bytes.length;
+						ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes);
 						int bytesWritten = channel.write(bb);
 						if(bytesWritten != bufferLength) {
 							throw new IOException("All bytes to be written were not successfully written");
@@ -181,9 +191,11 @@ public class TransactionAwareBufferedWriter extends Writer {
 	public void write(char[] cbuf, int off, int len) throws IOException {
 
 		if (!transactionActive()) {
-			ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.wrap(new String(Arrays.copyOfRange(cbuf, off, off + len)).getBytes());
+			byte[] bytes = new String(Arrays.copyOfRange(cbuf, off, off + len)).getBytes(encoding);
+			int length = bytes.length;
+			ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes);
 			int bytesWritten = channel.write(bb);
-			if(bytesWritten != len) {
+			if(bytesWritten != length) {
 				throw new IOException("Unable to write all data.  Bytes to write: " + len + ".  Bytes written: " + bytesWritten);
 			}
 			return;