diff --git a/src/compiletest/runtest.rs b/src/compiletest/runtest.rs
index a31efe26c1a..05fd621e597 100644
--- a/src/compiletest/runtest.rs
+++ b/src/compiletest/runtest.rs
@@ -282,7 +282,9 @@ fn run_debuginfo_test(config: &config, props: &TestProps, testfile: &Path) {
     }
 
     // write debugger script
-    let script_str = cmds.append("\nquit\n");
+    let script_str = [~"set charset UTF-8",
+                      cmds,
+                      ~"quit\n"].connect("\n");
     debug!("script_str = %s", script_str);
     dump_output_file(config, testfile, script_str, "debugger.script");