diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 4c7ac8f4..0513e002 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 xbps-0.23 (???):
 
+ * xbps-create(8): initialize setlocale so that utf8 files can be archived.
+   The locale must be utf8 capable for this to work. Fixes issue #5 from github.
+
  * libxbps: fix a use-after-free in state cb when a binpkg doesn't match its
    hash with the hash stored in repo index.
 
diff --git a/bin/xbps-create/main.c b/bin/xbps-create/main.c
index af55e549..9a6c2beb 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-create/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-create/main.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <ftw.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <libgen.h>
+#include <locale.h>
 
 #include <xbps_api.h>
 #include "queue.h"
@@ -679,6 +680,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	destdir = argv[optind];
 
+	setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+
 	if (pkgver == NULL)
 		die("pkgver not set!");
 	else if (desc == NULL)