diff --git a/webssh/handler.py b/webssh/handler.py
index e061cb9..42aab18 100644
--- a/webssh/handler.py
+++ b/webssh/handler.py
@@ -457,7 +457,8 @@ class IndexHandler(MixinHandler, tornado.web.RequestHandler):
         chan = ssh.invoke_shell(term=term)
         chan.setblocking(0)
         worker = Worker(self.loop, ssh, chan, dst_addr)
-        worker.encoding = self.get_default_encoding(ssh)
+        worker.encoding = options.encoding if options.encoding else \
+            self.get_default_encoding(ssh)
         return worker
 
     def check_origin(self):
diff --git a/webssh/main.py b/webssh/main.py
index 8370ff4..5faad10 100644
--- a/webssh/main.py
+++ b/webssh/main.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from webssh import handler
 from webssh.handler import IndexHandler, WsockHandler, NotFoundHandler
 from webssh.settings import (
     get_app_settings,  get_host_keys_settings, get_policy_setting,
-    get_ssl_context, get_server_settings
+    get_ssl_context, get_server_settings, check_encoding_setting
 )
 
 
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ def app_listen(app, port, address, server_settings):
 
 def main():
     options.parse_command_line()
+    check_encoding_setting(options.encoding)
     loop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.current()
     app = make_app(make_handlers(loop, options), get_app_settings(options))
     ssl_ctx = get_ssl_context(options)
diff --git a/webssh/settings.py b/webssh/settings.py
index c4305b6..a86f1ca 100644
--- a/webssh/settings.py
+++ b/webssh/settings.py
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ from tornado.options import define
 from webssh.policy import (
     load_host_keys, get_policy_class, check_policy_setting
 )
-from webssh.utils import to_ip_address, parse_origin_from_url
+from webssh.utils import (
+    to_ip_address, parse_origin_from_url, is_valid_encoding
+)
 from webssh._version import __version__
 
 
@@ -44,6 +46,8 @@ define('wpintvl', type=int, default=0, help='Websocket ping interval')
 define('maxconn', type=int, default=20,
        help='Maximum live connections (ssh sessions) per client')
 define('font', default='', help='custom font filename')
+define('encoding', default='',
+       help='The default character encoding of ssh servers')
 define('version', type=bool, help='Show version information',
        callback=print_version)
 
@@ -184,3 +188,9 @@ def get_font_filename(font, font_dir):
         font = filenames.pop()
 
     return font
+
+
+def check_encoding_setting(encoding):
+    if encoding and not is_valid_encoding(encoding):
+        raise ValueError('Unknown character encoding.')
+    return encoding