diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileWritingMessageHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder.java b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileWritingMessageHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder.java
index 91d837fc6b..fd6d6752da 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileWritingMessageHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileWritingMessageHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder.java
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ abstract class FileWritingMessageHandlerBeanDefinitionBuilder {
 		}
 		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setValueIfAttributeDefined(builder, element, "auto-create-directory");
 		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setValueIfAttributeDefined(builder, element, "delete-source-files");
+		IntegrationNamespaceUtils.setValueIfAttributeDefined(builder, element, "charset");
 		String fileNameGenerator = element.getAttribute("filename-generator");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(fileNameGenerator)) {
 			builder.addPropertyReference("fileNameGenerator", fileNameGenerator);
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-1.0.xsd b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-1.0.xsd
index c2c89f3aa6..b0e06cd766 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-1.0.xsd
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/main/resources/org/springframework/integration/file/config/spring-integration-file-1.0.xsd
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@
 			</xsd:annotation>
 		</xsd:attribute>
 		<xsd:attribute name="auto-startup" type="xsd:string"/>
+		<xsd:attribute name="charset" type="xsd:string"/>
 	</xsd:complexType>
 
 	<xsd:element name="file-to-string-transformer">
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests-context.xml b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests-context.xml
index 12a97fd028..5b073113d4 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests-context.xml
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@
 								   channel="testChannel"
 								   delete-source-files="true"
 								   directory="${java.io.tmpdir}"/>
-
+	
+	<file:outbound-channel-adapter id="adapterWithCharset"
+								   channel="testChannel" 
+								   charset="UTF-8"
+								   directory="${java.io.tmpdir}"/>
+								
 	<file:outbound-channel-adapter id="adapterWithOrder"
 								   channel="testChannel"
 								   order="555"
diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests.java b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests.java
index d9ad985193..2239777279 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.file/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/file/config/FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
@@ -56,7 +57,10 @@ public class FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests {
 	@Autowired
 	@Qualifier("adapterWithOrder")
 	EventDrivenConsumer adapterWithOrder;
-
+	
+	@Autowired
+	@Qualifier("adapterWithCharset")
+	EventDrivenConsumer adapterWithCharset;
 
 	@Test
 	public void simpleAdapter() {
@@ -106,5 +110,14 @@ public class FileOutboundChannelAdapterParserTests {
 		DirectFieldAccessor adapterAccessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(adapterWithOrder);
 		assertEquals(Boolean.FALSE, adapterAccessor.getPropertyValue("autoStartup"));
 	}
+	
+	@Test
+	public void adapterWithCharset() {
+		DirectFieldAccessor adapterAccessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(adapterWithCharset);
+	 	FileWritingMessageHandler handler = (FileWritingMessageHandler)
+	 	adapterAccessor.getPropertyValue("handler");
+	 	DirectFieldAccessor handlerAccessor = new DirectFieldAccessor(handler);
+	 	assertEquals(Charset.forName("UTF-8"), handlerAccessor.getPropertyValue("charset"));
+	}
 
 }