diff --git a/po-docs/Makefile.am b/po-docs/Makefile.am
index ede07e79d..eede6e055 100644
--- a/po-docs/Makefile.am
+++ b/po-docs/Makefile.am
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ libguestfs-docs.pot: po4a.conf
 	  --copyright-holder "Red Hat Inc." \
 	  po4a.conf
 	for f in `find $(LINGUAS) -name '*.pod' -o -name '*.pl'`; do \
-	  awk 'FNR >= 14 { print }' < $$f > $$f.new; \
+	  echo '=encoding utf8' > $$f.new; \
+	  awk 'FNR >= 14 { print }' < $$f >> $$f.new; \
 	  mv $$f.new $$f; \
 	done