diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/test-bot.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/test-bot.rb
index 31e4bc5be5..dff297166e 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/test-bot.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/test-bot.rb
@@ -838,6 +838,11 @@ module Homebrew
     end
 
     if ARGV.include? "--junit"
+      unless RUBY_VERSION < "1.9"
+        Encoding.default_external = Encoding::UTF_8
+        Encoding.default_internal = Encoding::UTF_8
+      end
+
       xml_document = REXML::Document.new
       xml_document << REXML::XMLDecl.new
       testsuites = xml_document.add_element "testsuites"