diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 16010ea..c88e302 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ build() {
             -Dpangoxft="$pangoxft" \
             -Dlibconfig="$libconfig" \
             -Dopt="$opt" \
+            -Dutf8="$utf8" \
             build
     else
         meson setup \
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ build() {
             -Dpangoxft="$pangoxft" \
             -Dlibconfig="$libconfig" \
             -Dopt="$opt" \
+            -Dutf8="$utf8" \
             build
     fi
 
diff --git a/buildconf b/buildconf
index 531ee57..f50a5a3 100755
--- a/buildconf
+++ b/buildconf
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ openssl=true # enable support for openssl, used to calculate MD5
 fribidi=true # enable support for right to left languages
 libconfig=true # enable configuration and themes
 xresources=true # enable .Xresources support
+utf8=true # enable UTF-8 support
 opt=-O2 # level of optimization
 warn=true # warn about OS quirks
 install=true # automatically install, if set to false an install will not be performed
diff --git a/libs/libdrw/drw.c b/libs/libdrw/drw.c
index d1f5c9f..9f1d587 100644
--- a/libs/libdrw/drw.c
+++ b/libs/libdrw/drw.c
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
 #define USEPANGO 0
 #else
 #define USEPANGO 1
+#ifndef UTF8
+#define USEUTF8 0
+#else
+#define USEUTF8 1
+#endif
 #endif
 
 #if USEPANGO
@@ -318,7 +323,11 @@ char *parse_utf(char *str, size_t clen) {
     char *cstr = cnstr;
     size_t olen = clen;
 
+#if USEUTF8
+    iconv_t cd = iconv_open("UTF-8//IGNORE", "UTF-8");
+#else
     iconv_t cd = iconv_open("UTF-8//IGNORE", "ASCII");
+#endif
 
     if (cd == (iconv_t) - 1) {
         die("spmenu: iconv_open failed");
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 2c3935c..5718455 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ if get_option('xresources')
   build_args += [ '-DXRESOURCES' ]
 endif
 
+if get_option('utf8')
+  build_args += [ '-DUTF8' ]
+endif
+
 project_target = executable(
   meson.project_name(),
   project_source_files, install : true,
diff --git a/meson.options b/meson.options
index 56282a3..c155e13 100644
--- a/meson.options
+++ b/meson.options
@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@ option('libconfig', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'Enable config
 option('pango', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'Enable Pango markup support')
 option('pangoxft', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'Enable Pango for libXft')
 option('xinerama', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'Enable multi-monitor support using libXinerama')
+option('utf8', type : 'boolean', value : true, description : 'Enable UTF-8 character support')
 option('opt', type : 'string', value : '-O2', description : 'Optimization level')