diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt
index 76158d2a..bfad5323 100644
--- a/changelog.txt
+++ b/changelog.txt
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ Changes in version 1.3.1 (October 2010)
 
 * Upgraded Spring to 2.5.6.SEC01. (LDAP-194)
 
+* Build is no longer using the default platform encoding, but UTF-8. (LDAP-201)
+
 Changes in version 1.3.0 (Jan 2009)
 -------------------------------------------
 * Added methods for simple LDAP 'bind' authentication in LdapOperations and
diff --git a/parent/pom.xml b/parent/pom.xml
index 4a10139c..77fd85b5 100644
--- a/parent/pom.xml
+++ b/parent/pom.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 		<url>http://fisheye3.cenqua.com/browse/springframework/spring-ldap/trunk</url>
 	</scm>
 	<properties>
+		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
 		<spring.version>2.5.6.SEC02</spring.version>
 	</properties>
 	<repositories>
@@ -141,6 +142,7 @@
 					<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
 					<version>2.5</version>
 					<configuration>
+						<encoding>${project.build.sourceEncoding}</encoding>
 						<aggregate>true</aggregate>
 						<breakiterator>true</breakiterator>
 						<header>Spring LDAP Framework</header>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index db8dc1a3..30532b0f 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@
 		<url>http://fisheye3.cenqua.com/browse/springframework/spring-ldap/trunk</url>
 	</scm>
 	<properties>
+		<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
 		<spring.version>2.5.6.SEC02</spring.version>
 	</properties>
 	<modules>
@@ -314,6 +315,7 @@
 					<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
 					<version>2.5</version>
 					<configuration>
+						<encoding>${project.build.sourceEncoding}</encoding>
 						<aggregate>true</aggregate>
 						<breakiterator>true</breakiterator>
 						<header>Spring LDAP Framework</header>