diff --git a/init.d/Makefile.Linux b/init.d/Makefile.Linux
index 653913cb..0e476b57 100644
--- a/init.d/Makefile.Linux
+++ b/init.d/Makefile.Linux
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 SRCS+=	hwclock.in consolefont.in keymaps.in modules.in mtab.in numlock.in \
-	procfs.in
+	procfs.in termencoding.in
 
 .SUFFIXES:	.Linux.in
 .Linux.in:
diff --git a/init.d/consolefont.in b/init.d/consolefont.in
index a30961e4..c8ec311b 100644
--- a/init.d/consolefont.in
+++ b/init.d/consolefont.in
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ description="Sets a font for the consoles."
 
 depend()
 {
-	need localmount
-	need keymaps    # sets up terminal encoding scheme
+	need localmount termencoding
 	after hotplug
 	keyword noopenvz noprefix nouml novserver noxenu
 }
@@ -34,7 +33,7 @@ start()
 		return 0
 	fi
 
-	local x= param= sf_param= retval=0 ttydev=
+	local x= param= sf_param= retval=0 ttydev=/dev/tty
 
 	# Get additional parameters
 	if [ -n "${consoletranslation}" ]; then
@@ -46,10 +45,7 @@ start()
 
 	# Set the console font
 	ebegin "Setting user font"
-	[ -d /dev/vc ] \
-		&& ttydev=/dev/vc/ \
-		|| ttydev=/dev/tty
-
+	[ -d /dev/vc ] && ttydev=/dev/vc/
 	x=1
 	while [ ${x} -le ${ttyn} ]; do
 		setfont ${consolefont} ${param} -C ${ttydev}${x} >/dev/null 
@@ -61,17 +57,17 @@ start()
 	# Store the last font so we can use it ASAP on boot
 	if [ ${retval} -eq 0 -a -w "${RC_LIBDIR}" ]; then
 		mkdir -p "${RC_LIBDIR}"/console
-
 		for font in /usr/share/consolefonts/"${consolefont}".*; do
 			:
 		done
 		cp "${font}" "${RC_LIBDIR}"/console
 		echo "${font##*/}" > "${RC_LIBDIR}"/console/font
 		if yesno ${unicode:-${UNICODE}}; then
-			cp /dev/null "${RC_LIBDIR}"/console/unicode
+			echo "" > "${RC_LIBDIR}"/console/unicode
 		else
 			rm -f "${RC_LIBDIR}"/console/unicode
 		fi
+
 	fi
 
 	return ${retval}
diff --git a/init.d/keymaps.in b/init.d/keymaps.in
index 2079e049..1c2c6f59 100644
--- a/init.d/keymaps.in
+++ b/init.d/keymaps.in
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ dumpkeys_charset=${dumpkeys_charset:-${DUMPKEYS_CHARSET}}
 
 depend()
 {
-	need localmount
+	need localmount termencoding
 	keyword noopenvz noprefix nouml novserver noxenu
 }
 
@@ -25,43 +25,41 @@ start()
 		return 1
 	fi
 
-	local ttydev= n=
-	[ -d /dev/vc ] \
-		&& ttydev=/dev/vc/ \
-		|| ttydev=/dev/tty
+	local ttydev=/dev/tty n=
+	[ -d /dev/vc ] && ttydev=/dev/vc/
 
 	# Force linux keycodes for PPC.
 	if [ -f /proc/sys/dev/mac_hid/keyboard_sends_linux_keycodes ]; then
 		echo 1 > /proc/sys/dev/mac_hid/keyboard_sends_linux_keycodes
 	fi
 
-	ebegin "Loading key mappings"
-	local loadkeys_uni= wkeys= 
-	yesno ${unicode} && loadkeys_uni="--unicode"
+	ebegin "Loading key mappings (${keymap})"
+	local loadkeys_uni= wkeys= kmode="-a" msg="ASCII"
+	if yesno ${unicode}; then
+		loadkeys_uni="--unicode"
+		kmode="-u"
+		msg="UTF-8"
+	fi
 	yesno ${windowskeys} && wkeys="windowkeys"
 	loadkeys -q ${loadkeys_uni} ${wkeys} ${keymap} ${extended_keymaps} 
 	eend $? "Error loading key mappings" || return $?
 
 	if yesno ${fix_euro}; then
+		ebegin "Fixing font for euro symbol"
 		# Fix some fonts displaying the Euro, #173528.
 		echo "altgr keycode 18 = U+20AC" | loadkeys -q
+		eend $?
 	fi
 
 	# Set terminal encoding to either ASCII or UNICODE.
 	# See utf-8(7) for more information.
-	local termencoding="%@" termmsg="ASCII" kmode="-a"
+	ebegin "Setting keyboard mode to ${msg}"
 	if yesno ${unicode}; then
 		dumpkeys ${dumpkeys_charset:+-c} \
 			${dumpkeys_charset} | loadkeys --unicode
-		termencoding="%G"
-		termmsg="UTF-8"
-		kmode="-u"
 	fi
-
-	ebegin "Setting terminal encoding to" ${termmsg}
 	n=1
 	while [ ${n} -le "${ttyn}" ]; do
-		printf "\033%s" "${termencoding}" >"${ttydev}${n}"
 		kbd_mode "${kmode}" -C "${ttydev}${n}"
 		n=$((${n} + 1))
 	done
diff --git a/init.d/termencoding.in b/init.d/termencoding.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bdae8362
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init.d/termencoding.in
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!@PREFIX@/sbin/runscript
+# Copyright 2008 Roy Marples <roy@marples.name>
+# All rights reserved. Released under the 2-clause BSD license.
+
+description="Configures terminal encoding."
+
+ttyn=${rc_tty_number:-${RC_TTY_NUMBER:-12}}
+unicode=${unicode:-${UNICODE}}
+
+depend()
+{
+	keyword noopenvz noprefix nouml novserver noxenu
+}
+
+start()
+{
+	local ttydev=/dev/tty n=
+	[ -d /dev/vc ] && ttydev=/dev/vc/
+
+	# Set terminal encoding to either ASCII or UNICODE.
+	# See utf-8(7) for more information.
+	local termencoding="%@" termmsg="ASCII"
+	if yesno ${unicode}; then
+		termencoding="%G"
+		termmsg="UTF-8"
+	fi
+
+	ebegin "Setting terminal encoding to ${termmsg}"
+	n=1
+	while [ ${n} -le "${ttyn}" ]; do
+		printf "\033%s" "${termencoding}" >"${ttydev}${n}"
+		n=$((${n} + 1))
+	done
+	eend 0
+}
diff --git a/runlevels/Makefile.Linux b/runlevels/Makefile.Linux
index 1aa23f96..f9a32044 100644
--- a/runlevels/Makefile.Linux
+++ b/runlevels/Makefile.Linux
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
-BOOT+=		hwclock consolefont keymaps modules mtab net.lo procfs
+BOOT+=		hwclock consolefont keymaps modules mtab net.lo procfs \
+		termencoding
 DEFAULT+=	hdparm