diff --git a/inc/auth/mysql.class.php b/inc/auth/mysql.class.php
index ea1fa2ae52c34fdf012084c96e904e735bd4a852..3d5af364027bab0da153c126741b2c80af9f137e 100644
--- a/inc/auth/mysql.class.php
+++ b/inc/auth/mysql.class.php
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ class auth_mysql extends auth_basic {
         return;
       }
 
+      // default to UTF-8, you rarely want something else
+      if(!isset($this->cnf['charset'])) $this->cnf['charset'] = 'utf8';
+
       $this->defaultgroup = $conf['defaultgroup'];
 
       // set capabilities based upon config strings set