diff --git a/adminer/drivers/mssql.inc.php b/adminer/drivers/mssql.inc.php
index 3c024e1c..8463885a 100644
--- a/adminer/drivers/mssql.inc.php
+++ b/adminer/drivers/mssql.inc.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ if (isset($_GET["mssql"])) {
 			}
 
 			function connect($server, $username, $password) {
-				$this->_link = @sqlsrv_connect($server, array("UID" => $username, "PWD" => $password));
+				$this->_link = @sqlsrv_connect($server, array("UID" => $username, "PWD" => $password, "CharacterSet" => "UTF-8"));
 				if ($this->_link) {
 					$info = sqlsrv_server_info($this->_link);
 					$this->server_info = $info['SQLServerVersion'];