diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 98829b55d..ccd908330 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ doc.h: $(HDR_FILES)
 messages.pot: *.cpp *.h share/completions/*.fish share/functions/*.fish
 	if test "$(HAVE_GETTEXT)" = 1; then \
 		xgettext -k_ -kN_ *.cpp *.h -o messages.pot; \
-		if xgettext -j -k_ -kN_ -k--description -LShell share/completions/*.fish share/functions/*.fish -o messages.pot; then true; else \
+		if xgettext -j -k_ -kN_ -k--description -LShell --from-code=UTF-8 share/completions/*.fish share/functions/*.fish -o messages.pot; then true; else \
 			echo "Your xgettext version is too old to build the messages.pot file"; \
 			rm messages.pot; \
 			false; \