diff --git a/pyfpdb/Charset.py b/pyfpdb/Charset.py
index f8043876..69511cdd 100644
--- a/pyfpdb/Charset.py
+++ b/pyfpdb/Charset.py
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ def to_utf8(s):
     if not_needed: return s
 
     try:
-        #(_out, _len) = encoder_to_utf.encode(s)
-        _out = unicode(s, Configuration.LOCALE_ENCODING).encode('utf-8')
+        (_out, _len) = encoder_to_utf.encode(s)
         return _out
     except UnicodeDecodeError:
         print 'Could not convert: "%s"' % s