diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashBuildWrapper.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashBuildWrapper.java
index 2e4a0100..8587696e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashBuildWrapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashBuildWrapper.java
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@
 
 /**
  * Build wrapper that decorates the build's logger to insert a
- * {@link LogstashNote} on each output line.
  *
  * @author K Jonathan Harker
  */
@@ -102,13 +101,14 @@ public OutputStream decorateLogger(AbstractBuild build, OutputStream logger) {
     return los;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public DescriptorImpl getDescriptor() {
     return (DescriptorImpl) super.getDescriptor();
   }
 
   // Method to encapsulate calls for unit-testing
   LogstashWriter getLogStashWriter(AbstractBuild<?, ?> build, OutputStream errorStream) {
-    return new LogstashWriter(build, errorStream, null);
+    return new LogstashWriter(build, errorStream, null, build.getCharset());
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashNotifier.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashNotifier.java
index 722ecc93..1dea1a64 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashNotifier.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashNotifier.java
@@ -85,9 +85,10 @@ private boolean perform(Run<?, ?> run, TaskListener listener) {
 
   // Method to encapsulate calls for unit-testing
   LogstashWriter getLogStashWriter(Run<?, ?> run, OutputStream errorStream, TaskListener listener) {
-    return new LogstashWriter(run, errorStream, listener);
+    return new LogstashWriter(run, errorStream, listener, run.getCharset());
   }
 
+  @Override
   public BuildStepMonitor getRequiredMonitorService() {
     // We don't call Run#getPreviousBuild() so no external synchronization between builds is required
     return BuildStepMonitor.NONE;
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ public boolean isApplicable(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") Class<? extends Abstra
       return true;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public String getDisplayName() {
       return Messages.DisplayName();
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStream.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStream.java
index 929abb47..07ebe703 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStream.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStream.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ protected void eol(byte[] b, int len) throws IOException {
     this.flush();
 
     if(!logstash.isConnectionBroken()) {
-      String line = new String(b, 0, len).trim();
+      String line = new String(b, 0, len, logstash.getCharset()).trim();
       line = ConsoleNote.removeNotes(line);
       logstash.write(line);
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriter.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriter.java
index 68134d30..38835fb7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriter.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -60,11 +61,13 @@ public class LogstashWriter {
   final String jenkinsUrl;
   final LogstashIndexerDao dao;
   private boolean connectionBroken;
+  private Charset charset;
 
-  public LogstashWriter(Run<?, ?> run, OutputStream error, TaskListener listener) {
+  public LogstashWriter(Run<?, ?> run, OutputStream error, TaskListener listener, Charset charset) {
     this.errorStream = error != null ? error : System.err;
     this.build = run;
     this.listener = listener;
+    this.charset = charset;
     this.dao = this.getDaoOrNull();
     if (this.dao == null) {
       this.jenkinsUrl = "";
@@ -72,9 +75,19 @@ public LogstashWriter(Run<?, ?> run, OutputStream error, TaskListener listener)
     } else {
       this.jenkinsUrl = getJenkinsUrl();
       this.buildData = getBuildData();
+      dao.setCharset(charset);
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * gets the charset that Jenkins is using during this build.
+   * @return
+   */
+  public Charset getCharset()
+  {
+    return charset;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Sends a logstash payload for a single line to the indexer.
    * Call will be ignored if the line is empty or if the connection to the indexer is broken.
@@ -184,7 +197,7 @@ private LogstashIndexerDao getDaoOrNull() {
   private void logErrorMessage(String msg) {
     try {
       connectionBroken = true;
-      errorStream.write(msg.getBytes());
+      errorStream.write(msg.getBytes(charset));
       errorStream.flush();
     } catch (IOException ex) {
       // This should never happen, but if it does we just have to let it go.
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/AbstractLogstashIndexerDao.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/AbstractLogstashIndexerDao.java
index c17b61ce..13844957 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/AbstractLogstashIndexerDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/AbstractLogstashIndexerDao.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 package jenkins.plugins.logstash.persistence;
 
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.Calendar;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractLogstashIndexerDao implements LogstashIndexerDao {
   protected final String key;
   protected final String username;
   protected final String password;
+  private Charset charset;
 
   public AbstractLogstashIndexerDao(String host, int port, String key, String username, String password) {
     this.host = host;
@@ -56,6 +58,27 @@ public AbstractLogstashIndexerDao(String host, int port, String key, String user
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Sets the charset used to push data to the indexer
+   *
+   *@param charset The charset to push data
+   */
+  @Override
+  public void setCharset(Charset charset)
+  {
+    this.charset = charset;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Gets the configured charset used to push data to the indexer
+   *
+   * @return charste to push data
+   */
+  public Charset getCharset()
+  {
+    return charset;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public JSONObject buildPayload(BuildData buildData, String jenkinsUrl, List<String> logLines) {
     JSONObject payload = new JSONObject();
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java
index 91c29df2..25d0ec02 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/ElasticSearchDao.java
@@ -40,8 +40,11 @@
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.Range;
 
@@ -85,7 +88,7 @@ public ElasticSearchDao(String host, int port, String key, String username, Stri
     }
 
     if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(username)) {
-      auth = Base64.encodeBase64String((username + ":" + StringUtils.defaultString(password)).getBytes());
+      auth = Base64.encodeBase64String((username + ":" + StringUtils.defaultString(password)).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
     } else {
       auth = null;
     }
@@ -132,7 +135,7 @@ private String getErrorMessage(CloseableHttpResponse response) {
     PrintStream stream = null;
     try {
       byteStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
-      stream = new PrintStream(byteStream);
+      stream = new PrintStream(byteStream, true, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name());
 
       try {
         stream.print("HTTP error code: ");
@@ -145,7 +148,11 @@ private String getErrorMessage(CloseableHttpResponse response) {
         stream.println(ExceptionUtils.getStackTrace(e));
       }
       stream.flush();
-      return byteStream.toString();
+      return byteStream.toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name());
+    }
+    catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e)
+    {
+      return ExceptionUtils.getStackTrace(e);
     } finally {
       if (stream != null) {
         stream.close();
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/LogstashIndexerDao.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/LogstashIndexerDao.java
index ea25d73b..d81140fb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/LogstashIndexerDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/LogstashIndexerDao.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 package jenkins.plugins.logstash.persistence;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import net.sf.json.JSONObject;
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ static enum IndexerType {
     ELASTICSEARCH,
     SYSLOG
   }
-  
+
   static enum SyslogFormat {
 	RFC5424,
 	RFC3164
@@ -51,7 +52,9 @@ static enum SyslogFormat {
   static enum SyslogProtocol {
 	UDP
   }
-  
+
+  public void setCharset(Charset charset);
+
   String getDescription();
 
   IndexerType getIndexerType();
diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDao.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDao.java
index d49e2ccb..699aa8e4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDao.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDao.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public void push(String data) throws IOException {
         channel.queueDeclare(key, true, false, false, null);
       }
 
-      channel.basicPublish("", key, null, data.getBytes());
+      channel.basicPublish("", key, null, data.getBytes(getCharset()));
     } finally {
       finalizeChannel(channel);
       finalizeConnection(connection);
diff --git a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStreamTest.java b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStreamTest.java
index 5b445916..74f4cf76 100644
--- a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStreamTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashOutputStreamTest.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ public void before() throws Exception {
     buffer = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
     Mockito.doNothing().when(mockWriter).write(anyString());
     when(mockWriter.isConnectionBroken()).thenReturn(false);
+    when(mockWriter.getCharset()).thenReturn(Charset.defaultCharset());
   }
 
   @After
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ public void eolSuccess() throws Exception {
     assertEquals("Results don't match", msg, buffer.toString());
     verify(mockWriter).isConnectionBroken();
     verify(mockWriter).write(msg);
+    verify(mockWriter).getCharset();
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -102,6 +105,7 @@ public void eolSuccessConnectionBroken() throws Exception {
     //Verify calls were made to the dao logging twice, not three times.
     verify(mockWriter, times(2)).write(msg);
     verify(mockWriter, times(3)).isConnectionBroken();
+    verify(mockWriter, times(2)).getCharset();
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriterTest.java b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriterTest.java
index 3a07f2a3..69de82b6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriterTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/LogstashWriterTest.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ static LogstashWriter createLogstashWriter(final AbstractBuild<?, ?> testBuild,
                                              final String url,
                                              final LogstashIndexerDao indexer,
                                              final BuildData data) {
-    return new LogstashWriter(testBuild, error, null) {
+    return new LogstashWriter(testBuild, error, null, testBuild.getCharset()) {
       @Override
       LogstashIndexerDao getDao() throws InstantiationException {
         if (indexer == null) {
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@ public void before() throws Exception {
     when(mockBuild.getLog(3)).thenReturn(Arrays.asList("line 1", "line 2", "line 3", "Log truncated..."));
     when(mockBuild.getEnvironment(null)).thenReturn(new EnvVars());
     when(mockBuild.getExecutor()).thenReturn(mockExecutor);
+    when(mockBuild.getCharset()).thenReturn(Charset.defaultCharset());
     when(mockExecutor.getOwner()).thenReturn(mockComputer);
     when(mockComputer.getNode()).thenReturn(null);
 
@@ -156,6 +158,8 @@ public void constructorSuccess() throws Exception {
     verify(mockBuild).getSensitiveBuildVariables();
     verify(mockBuild).getEnvironments();
     verify(mockBuild).getEnvironment(null);
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
+    verify(mockDao).setCharset(Charset.defaultCharset());
 
     verify(mockTestResultAction).getTotalCount();
     verify(mockTestResultAction).getSkipCount();
@@ -180,6 +184,7 @@ public void constructorSuccessNoDao() throws Exception {
     // Verify results
     assertEquals("Results don't match", exMessage, errorBuffer.toString());
     assertTrue("Connection not broken", writer.isConnectionBroken());
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -196,6 +201,7 @@ public void writeSuccessNoDao() throws Exception {
     // Verify results
     assertEquals("Results don't match", "", errorBuffer.toString());
     assertTrue("Connection not broken", writer.isConnectionBroken());
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -211,6 +217,7 @@ public void writeBuildLogSuccessNoDao() throws Exception {
     // Verify results
     assertEquals("Results don't match", "", errorBuffer.toString());
     assertTrue("Connection not broken", writer.isConnectionBroken());
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -228,6 +235,9 @@ public void writeSuccess() throws Exception {
 
     verify(mockDao).buildPayload(Matchers.eq(mockBuildData), Matchers.eq("http://my-jenkins-url"), Matchers.anyListOf(String.class));
     verify(mockDao).push("{\"data\":{},\"message\":[\"test\"],\"source\":\"jenkins\",\"source_host\":\"http://my-jenkins-url\",\"@version\":1}");
+    verify(mockDao).setCharset(Charset.defaultCharset());
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
+
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -242,9 +252,11 @@ public void writeBuildLogSuccess() throws Exception {
     // No error output
     assertEquals("Results don't match", "", errorBuffer.toString());
     verify(mockBuild).getLog(3);
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
 
     verify(mockDao).buildPayload(Matchers.eq(mockBuildData), Matchers.eq("http://my-jenkins-url"), Matchers.anyListOf(String.class));
     verify(mockDao).push("{\"data\":{},\"message\":[\"test\"],\"source\":\"jenkins\",\"source_host\":\"http://my-jenkins-url\",\"@version\":1}");
+    verify(mockDao).setCharset(Charset.defaultCharset());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -289,6 +301,9 @@ public void writeSuccessConnectionBroken() throws Exception {
     verify(mockDao, times(2)).push("{\"data\":{},\"message\":[\"test\"],\"source\":\"jenkins\",\"source_host\":\"http://my-jenkins-url\",\"@version\":1}");
     verify(mockDao).getIndexerType();
     verify(mockDao, times(2)).getDescription();
+    verify(mockDao).setCharset(Charset.defaultCharset());
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
+
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -304,12 +319,14 @@ public void writeBuildLogGetLogError() throws Exception {
 
     // Verify results
     verify(mockBuild).getLog(3);
+    verify(mockBuild).getCharset();
 
     List<String> expectedErrorLines =  Arrays.asList(
       "[logstash-plugin]: Unable to serialize log data.",
       "java.io.IOException: Unable to read log file");
     verify(mockDao).push("{\"data\":{},\"message\":[\"test\"],\"source\":\"jenkins\",\"source_host\":\"http://my-jenkins-url\",\"@version\":1}");
     verify(mockDao).buildPayload(eq(mockBuildData), eq("http://my-jenkins-url"), logLinesCaptor.capture());
+    verify(mockDao).setCharset(Charset.defaultCharset());
     List<String> actualLogLines = logLinesCaptor.getValue();
 
     assertThat("The exception was not sent to Logstash", actualLogLines.get(0), containsString(expectedErrorLines.get(0)));
diff --git a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDaoTest.java b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDaoTest.java
index b0f8d183..91599868 100644
--- a/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDaoTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/jenkins/plugins/logstash/persistence/RabbitMqDaoTest.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.SocketException;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.exception.ExceptionUtils;
@@ -37,6 +38,8 @@ RabbitMqDao createDao(String host, int port, String key, String username, String
       verify(mockPool, atLeastOnce()).setPassword(password);
     }
 
+    factory.setCharset(Charset.defaultCharset());
+
     return factory;
   }