diff --git a/dataformat/html/classes/writer.php b/dataformat/html/classes/writer.php
index 0eaa5559725..a7b60d4ea0e 100644
--- a/dataformat/html/classes/writer.php
+++ b/dataformat/html/classes/writer.php
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ class writer extends \core\dataformat\base {
      * Write the start of the output
      */
     public function start_output() {
-        echo "<!DOCTYPE html><html>";
+        echo "<!DOCTYPE html><html><head>";
+        echo \html_writer::empty_tag('meta', ['charset' => 'UTF-8']);
         echo \html_writer::tag('title', $this->filename);
         echo "<style>
 html, body {
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ table {
     margin: auto;
 }
 </style>
+</head>
 <body>";
     }
 
