diff --git a/common.inc.php b/common.inc.php
index 51849f73..237e4226 100644
--- a/common.inc.php
+++ b/common.inc.php
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ if(!mysql_select_db($DBNAME))
 	exit;
 }
 
+//this will silently fail on mysql 4.x, but is needed on mysql5.x to ensure we're only using utf8 encodings
+@mysql_query("SET NAMES utf8");
+
 //find out the fair year and any other 'year=0' configuration parameters (things that dont change as the years go on)
 $q=@mysql_query("SELECT * FROM config WHERE year='0'");
 
@@ -1050,6 +1053,11 @@ require_once("Rmail/RFC822.php");
 //this sends out an all-ready-to-go email, it does no substitution or changes or database lookups or anything
 function email_send_new($to,$from,$subject,$body,$bodyhtml="") {
 	$mail=new RMail();
+
+	$mail->setHeadCharset("UTF-8");
+	$mail->setTextCharset("UTF-8");
+	$mail->setHTMLCharset("UTF-8");
+
 	$mail->setFrom($from);
 	$mail->setSubject($subject);
 	$mail->setText($body);