diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 4f32caca..cfb0333c 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # have all needed files, that a GNU package needs
 AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign 1.4
 
-SUBDIRS = src data doc
+SUBDIRS = src doc
 docdir = $(prefix)/share/doc/$(PACKAGE)
 doc_DATA = AUTHORS NEWS COPYING
 EXTRA_DIST = $(doc_DATA)
diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index b6451b1e..ebf8aedd 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ if test "$prefix" = "NONE"; then
 else
 	encodings_file="${prefix}"
 fi
-AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([ENCODINGS], ["${encodings_file}/share/ncmpcpp/encodings"], [defines path for encodings file])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([iconv.h], , AC_MSG_NOTICE(cannot find iconv.h header, iconv support will be disabled))
 
 dnl ========================
@@ -103,5 +102,5 @@ if test "$taglib" = "yes" ; then
 	fi
 fi
 
-AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile src/Makefile data/Makefile doc/Makefile])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile src/Makefile doc/Makefile])
 AC_OUTPUT
diff --git a/data/Makefile.am b/data/Makefile.am
deleted file mode 100644
index 4fa334a2..00000000
--- a/data/Makefile.am
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-pkgdata_DATA = encodings
-EXTRA_DIST = $(pkgdata_DATA)
diff --git a/data/encodings b/data/encodings
deleted file mode 100644
index 06192718..00000000
--- a/data/encodings
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,411 +0,0 @@
-aa_DJ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-aa_DJ ISO-8859-1
-aa_ER UTF-8
-aa_ER@saaho UTF-8
-aa_ET UTF-8
-af_ZA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-af_ZA ISO-8859-1
-am_ET UTF-8
-an_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
-an_ES ISO-8859-15
-ar_AE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_AE ISO-8859-6
-ar_BH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_BH ISO-8859-6
-ar_DZ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_DZ ISO-8859-6
-ar_EG.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_EG ISO-8859-6
-ar_IN UTF-8
-ar_IQ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_IQ ISO-8859-6
-ar_JO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_JO ISO-8859-6
-ar_KW.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_KW ISO-8859-6
-ar_LB.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_LB ISO-8859-6
-ar_LY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_LY ISO-8859-6
-ar_MA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_MA ISO-8859-6
-ar_OM.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_OM ISO-8859-6
-ar_QA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_QA ISO-8859-6
-ar_SA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_SA ISO-8859-6
-ar_SD.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_SD ISO-8859-6
-ar_SY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_SY ISO-8859-6
-ar_TN.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_TN ISO-8859-6
-ar_YE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ar_YE ISO-8859-6
-az_AZ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-as_IN.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ast_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ast_ES ISO-8859-15
-be_BY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-be_BY CP1251
-be_BY@latin UTF-8
-ber_DZ UTF-8
-ber_MA UTF-8
-bg_BG.UTF-8 UTF-8
-bg_BG CP1251
-bn_BD UTF-8
-bn_IN UTF-8
-bo_CN UTF-8
-bo_IN UTF-8
-br_FR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-br_FR ISO-8859-1
-br_FR@euro ISO-8859-15
-bs_BA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-bs_BA ISO-8859-2
-byn_ER UTF-8
-ca_AD.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ca_AD ISO-8859-15
-ca_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ca_ES ISO-8859-1
-ca_ES@euro ISO-8859-15
-ca_ES.UTF-8@valencia UTF-8
-ca_ES@valencia ISO-8859-15
-ca_FR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ca_FR ISO-8859-15
-ca_IT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ca_IT ISO-8859-15
-crh_UA UTF-8
-cs_CZ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-cs_CZ ISO-8859-2
-csb_PL UTF-8
-cy_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8
-cy_GB ISO-8859-14
-da_DK.UTF-8 UTF-8
-da_DK ISO-8859-1
-de_AT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-de_AT ISO-8859-1
-de_AT@euro ISO-8859-15
-de_BE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-de_BE ISO-8859-1
-de_BE@euro ISO-8859-15
-de_CH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-de_CH ISO-8859-1
-de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-de_DE ISO-8859-1
-de_DE@euro ISO-8859-15
-de_LU.UTF-8 UTF-8
-de_LU ISO-8859-1
-de_LU@euro ISO-8859-15
-dz_BT UTF-8
-el_GR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-el_GR ISO-8859-7
-el_CY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-el_CY ISO-8859-7
-en_AG UTF-8
-en_AU.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_AU ISO-8859-1
-en_BW.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_BW ISO-8859-1
-en_CA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_CA ISO-8859-1
-en_DK.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_DK ISO-8859-1
-en_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_GB ISO-8859-1
-en_HK.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_HK ISO-8859-1
-en_IE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_IE ISO-8859-1
-en_IE@euro ISO-8859-15
-en_IN UTF-8
-en_NG UTF-8
-en_NZ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_NZ ISO-8859-1
-en_PH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_PH ISO-8859-1
-en_SG.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_SG ISO-8859-1
-en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_US ISO-8859-1
-en_ZA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_ZA ISO-8859-1
-en_ZW.UTF-8 UTF-8
-en_ZW ISO-8859-1
-es_AR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_AR ISO-8859-1
-es_BO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_BO ISO-8859-1
-es_CL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_CL ISO-8859-1
-es_CO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_CO ISO-8859-1
-es_CR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_CR ISO-8859-1
-es_DO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_DO ISO-8859-1
-es_EC.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_EC ISO-8859-1
-es_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_ES ISO-8859-1
-es_ES@euro ISO-8859-15
-es_GT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_GT ISO-8859-1
-es_HN.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_HN ISO-8859-1
-es_MX.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_MX ISO-8859-1
-es_NI.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_NI ISO-8859-1
-es_PA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_PA ISO-8859-1
-es_PE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_PE ISO-8859-1
-es_PR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_PR ISO-8859-1
-es_PY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_PY ISO-8859-1
-es_SV.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_SV ISO-8859-1
-es_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_US ISO-8859-1
-es_UY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_UY ISO-8859-1
-es_VE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-es_VE ISO-8859-1
-et_EE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-et_EE ISO-8859-1
-et_EE.ISO-8859-15 ISO-8859-15
-eu_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
-eu_ES ISO-8859-1
-eu_ES@euro ISO-8859-15
-fa_IR UTF-8
-fi_FI.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fi_FI ISO-8859-1
-fi_FI@euro ISO-8859-15
-fil_PH UTF-8
-fo_FO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fo_FO ISO-8859-1
-fr_BE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fr_BE ISO-8859-1
-fr_BE@euro ISO-8859-15
-fr_CA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fr_CA ISO-8859-1
-fr_CH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fr_CH ISO-8859-1
-fr_FR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fr_FR ISO-8859-1
-fr_FR@euro ISO-8859-15
-fr_LU.UTF-8 UTF-8
-fr_LU ISO-8859-1
-fr_LU@euro ISO-8859-15
-fur_IT UTF-8
-fy_NL UTF-8
-fy_DE UTF-8
-ga_IE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ga_IE ISO-8859-1
-ga_IE@euro ISO-8859-15
-gd_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8
-gd_GB ISO-8859-15
-gez_ER UTF-8
-gez_ER@abegede UTF-8
-gez_ET UTF-8
-gez_ET@abegede UTF-8
-gl_ES.UTF-8 UTF-8
-gl_ES ISO-8859-1
-gl_ES@euro ISO-8859-15
-gu_IN UTF-8
-gv_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8
-gv_GB ISO-8859-1
-ha_NG UTF-8
-he_IL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-he_IL ISO-8859-8
-hi_IN UTF-8
-hr_HR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-hr_HR ISO-8859-2
-hsb_DE ISO-8859-2
-hsb_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ht_HT UTF-8
-hu_HU.UTF-8 UTF-8
-hu_HU ISO-8859-2
-hy_AM UTF-8
-hy_AM.ARMSCII-8 ARMSCII-8
-id_ID.UTF-8 UTF-8
-id_ID ISO-8859-1
-ig_NG UTF-8
-ik_CA UTF-8
-is_IS.UTF-8 UTF-8
-is_IS ISO-8859-1
-it_CH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-it_CH ISO-8859-1
-it_IT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-it_IT ISO-8859-1
-it_IT@euro ISO-8859-15
-iu_CA UTF-8
-iw_IL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-iw_IL ISO-8859-8
-ja_JP.EUC-JP EUC-JP
-ja_JP.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ka_GE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ka_GE GEORGIAN-PS
-kk_KZ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-kk_KZ PT154
-kl_GL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-kl_GL ISO-8859-1
-km_KH UTF-8
-kn_IN UTF-8
-ko_KR.EUC-KR EUC-KR
-ko_KR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ks_IN@devanagari UTF-8
-ku_TR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ku_TR ISO-8859-9
-kw_GB.UTF-8 UTF-8
-kw_GB ISO-8859-1
-ky_KG UTF-8
-lg_UG.UTF-8 UTF-8
-lg_UG ISO-8859-10
-li_BE UTF-8
-li_NL UTF-8
-lo_LA UTF-8
-lt_LT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-lt_LT ISO-8859-13
-lv_LV.UTF-8 UTF-8
-lv_LV ISO-8859-13
-mai_IN UTF-8
-mg_MG.UTF-8 UTF-8
-mg_MG ISO-8859-15
-mi_NZ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-mi_NZ ISO-8859-13
-mk_MK.UTF-8 UTF-8
-mk_MK ISO-8859-5
-ml_IN UTF-8
-mn_MN UTF-8
-mr_IN UTF-8
-ms_MY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ms_MY ISO-8859-1
-mt_MT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-mt_MT ISO-8859-3
-nb_NO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-nb_NO ISO-8859-1
-nds_DE UTF-8
-nds_NL UTF-8
-ne_NP UTF-8
-nl_AW UTF-8
-nl_BE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-nl_BE ISO-8859-1
-nl_BE@euro ISO-8859-15
-nl_NL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-nl_NL ISO-8859-1
-nl_NL@euro ISO-8859-15
-nn_NO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-nn_NO ISO-8859-1
-nr_ZA UTF-8
-nso_ZA UTF-8
-oc_FR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-oc_FR ISO-8859-1
-om_ET UTF-8
-om_KE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-om_KE ISO-8859-1
-or_IN UTF-8
-pa_IN UTF-8
-pa_PK UTF-8
-pap_AN UTF-8
-pl_PL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-pl_PL ISO-8859-2
-pt_BR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-pt_BR ISO-8859-1
-pt_PT.UTF-8 UTF-8
-pt_PT ISO-8859-1
-pt_PT@euro ISO-8859-15
-ro_RO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ro_RO ISO-8859-2
-ru_RU.KOI8-R KOI8-R
-ru_RU.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ru_RU ISO-8859-5
-ru_UA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ru_UA KOI8-U
-rw_RW UTF-8
-sa_IN UTF-8
-sc_IT UTF-8
-sd_IN UTF-8
-sd_IN@devanagari UTF-8
-se_NO UTF-8
-shs_CA UTF-8
-si_LK UTF-8
-sid_ET UTF-8
-sk_SK.UTF-8 UTF-8
-sk_SK ISO-8859-2
-sl_SI.UTF-8 UTF-8
-sl_SI ISO-8859-2
-so_DJ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-so_DJ ISO-8859-1
-so_ET UTF-8
-so_KE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-so_KE ISO-8859-1
-so_SO.UTF-8 UTF-8
-so_SO ISO-8859-1
-sq_AL.UTF-8 UTF-8
-sq_AL ISO-8859-1
-sr_ME UTF-8
-sr_RS UTF-8
-sr_RS@latin UTF-8
-ss_ZA UTF-8
-st_ZA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-st_ZA ISO-8859-1
-sv_FI.UTF-8 UTF-8
-sv_FI ISO-8859-1
-sv_FI@euro ISO-8859-15
-sv_SE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-sv_SE ISO-8859-1
-ta_IN UTF-8
-te_IN UTF-8
-tg_TJ.UTF-8 UTF-8
-tg_TJ KOI8-T
-th_TH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-th_TH TIS-620
-ti_ER UTF-8
-ti_ET UTF-8
-tig_ER UTF-8
-tk_TM UTF-8
-tl_PH.UTF-8 UTF-8
-tl_PH ISO-8859-1
-tn_ZA UTF-8
-tr_CY.UTF-8 UTF-8
-tr_CY ISO-8859-9
-tr_TR.UTF-8 UTF-8
-tr_TR ISO-8859-9
-ts_ZA UTF-8
-tt_RU.UTF-8 UTF-8
-tt_RU@iqtelif.UTF-8 UTF-8
-ug_CN UTF-8
-uk_UA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-uk_UA KOI8-U
-ur_PK UTF-8
-uz_UZ ISO-8859-1
-uz_UZ@cyrillic UTF-8
-ve_ZA UTF-8
-vi_VN.TCVN TCVN5712-1
-vi_VN UTF-8
-wa_BE ISO-8859-1
-wa_BE@euro ISO-8859-15
-wa_BE.UTF-8 UTF-8
-wo_SN UTF-8
-xh_ZA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-xh_ZA ISO-8859-1
-yi_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
-yi_US CP1255
-yo_NG UTF-8
-zh_CN.GB18030 GB18030
-zh_CN.GBK GBK
-zh_CN.UTF-8 UTF-8
-zh_CN GB2312
-zh_HK.UTF-8 UTF-8
-zh_HK BIG5-HKSCS
-zh_SG.UTF-8 UTF-8
-zh_SG.GBK GBK
-zh_SG GB2312
-zh_TW.EUC-TW EUC-TW
-zh_TW.UTF-8 UTF-8
-zh_TW BIG5
-zu_ZA.UTF-8 UTF-8
-zu_ZA ISO-8859-1
diff --git a/doc/config b/doc/config
index c86d5782..d079c221 100644
--- a/doc/config
+++ b/doc/config
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@
 #
 #mpd_crossfade_time = "5"
 #
+##### system encoding #####
+##
+## if you use encoding other than utf8, set it in
+## order to handle utf8 encoded strings properly.
+##
+#
+#system_encoding = ""
+#
 ##### delays #####
 #
 ## delay after playlist highlighting will be disabled (0 = don't disable)
diff --git a/doc/ncmpcpp.1 b/doc/ncmpcpp.1
index b881c857..829cefd7 100644
--- a/doc/ncmpcpp.1
+++ b/doc/ncmpcpp.1
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ Set connection timeout to MPD to given value.
 .B mpd_crossfade_time = SECONDS
 Default number of seconds to crossfade, if enabled by ncmpcpp.
 .TP
+.B system_encoding = ENCODING
+If you use encoding other than utf8, set it in order to handle utf8 encoded strings properly.
+.TP
 .B seek_time = SECONDS
 Base seek time to begin with.
 .TP 
diff --git a/src/charset.cpp b/src/charset.cpp
index 170a1f52..fa683f2c 100644
--- a/src/charset.cpp
+++ b/src/charset.cpp
@@ -29,13 +29,11 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <stdexcept>
 
-#include "locale.h"
+#include "settings.h"
 #include "str_pool.h"
 
 namespace
 {
-	char *locale_charset = 0;
-
 	inline bool char_non_ascii(char ch)
 	{
 		return (ch & 0x80) != 0;
@@ -89,55 +87,12 @@ namespace
 	}
 }
 
-void init_current_locale()
-{
-	if (!setlocale(LC_CTYPE, ""))
-		return;
-	std::string envlocale = setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "");
-	if (envlocale.empty() || envlocale == "C")
-		return;
-	std::ifstream f(ENCODINGS);
-	if (!f.is_open())
-	{
-		std::cerr << "ncmpcpp: cannot open file "ENCODINGS"!\n";
-		return;
-	}
-	envlocale += " ";
-	std::string line;
-	while (!f.eof())
-	{
-		getline(f, line);
-		if (line.find(envlocale) != std::string::npos)
-		{
-			try
-			{
-				std::string charset = line.substr(line.find(" ")+1);
-				if (charset == "UTF-8"
-				||  charset == "utf-8"
-				||  charset == "utf8")
-				{
-					f.close();
-					return;
-				}
-				locale_charset = strdup((charset + "//TRANSLIT").c_str());
-			}
-			catch (std::out_of_range)
-			{
-				f.close();
-				return;
-			}
-			break;
-		}
-	}
-	f.close();
-}
-
 void utf_to_locale(std::string &s)
 {
-	if (s.empty() || !locale_charset || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
+	if (s.empty() || Config.system_encoding.empty() || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
 		return;
 	char *tmp = str_pool_get(s.c_str());
-	charset_convert("utf8", locale_charset, tmp, s.length());
+	charset_convert("utf8", Config.system_encoding.c_str(), tmp, s.length());
 	s = tmp;
 	str_pool_put(tmp);
 }
@@ -151,10 +106,10 @@ std::string utf_to_locale_cpy(const std::string &s)
 
 void locale_to_utf(std::string &s)
 {
-	if (s.empty() || !locale_charset || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
+	if (s.empty() || Config.system_encoding.empty() || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
 		return;
 	char *tmp = str_pool_get(s.c_str());
-	charset_convert(locale_charset, "utf8", tmp, s.length());
+	charset_convert(Config.system_encoding.c_str(), "utf8", tmp, s.length());
 	s = tmp;
 	str_pool_put(tmp);
 }
@@ -168,16 +123,16 @@ std::string locale_to_utf_cpy(const std::string &s)
 
 void str_pool_utf_to_locale(char *&s)
 {
-	if (!s || !locale_charset || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
+	if (!s || Config.system_encoding.empty() || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
 		return;
-	charset_convert("utf8", locale_charset, s);
+	charset_convert("utf8", Config.system_encoding.c_str(), s);
 }
 
 void str_pool_locale_to_utf(char *&s)
 {
-	if (!s || !locale_charset || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
+	if (!s || Config.system_encoding.empty() || !has_non_ascii_chars(s))
 		return;
-	charset_convert(locale_charset, "utf8", s);
+	charset_convert(Config.system_encoding.c_str(), "utf8", s);
 }
 
 #endif // HAVE_ICONV_H
diff --git a/src/charset.h b/src/charset.h
index d5cf3652..3f195d41 100644
--- a/src/charset.h
+++ b/src/charset.h
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
 
 #include <string>
 
-void init_current_locale();
-
 void utf_to_locale(std::string &);
 void locale_to_utf(std::string &);
 
@@ -42,8 +40,6 @@ void str_pool_locale_to_utf(char *&);
 
 #else
 
-#define init_current_locale();
-
 #define utf_to_locale(x);
 #define locale_to_utf(x);
 
diff --git a/src/ncmpcpp.cpp b/src/ncmpcpp.cpp
index 9efd2023..433c668c 100644
--- a/src/ncmpcpp.cpp
+++ b/src/ncmpcpp.cpp
@@ -118,7 +118,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	std::cerr.rdbuf(errorlog.rdbuf());
 	
 	InitScreen("ncmpc++ ver. "VERSION, Config.colors_enabled);
-	init_current_locale();
 	
 	MainStartY = 2;
 	MainHeight = LINES-4;
diff --git a/src/settings.cpp b/src/settings.cpp
index 6d736709..fa9ff039 100644
--- a/src/settings.cpp
+++ b/src/settings.cpp
@@ -528,6 +528,11 @@ void ReadConfiguration(ncmpcpp_config &conf)
 				if (!v.empty())
 					conf.external_editor = v;
 			}
+			else if (cl.find("system_encoding") != string::npos)
+			{
+				if (!v.empty())
+					conf.system_encoding = v + "//TRANSLIT";
+			}
 			else if (cl.find("browser_playlist_prefix") != string::npos)
 			{
 				if (!v.empty())
diff --git a/src/settings.h b/src/settings.h
index 01a9df29..b2a49e28 100644
--- a/src/settings.h
+++ b/src/settings.h
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ struct ncmpcpp_config
 	std::string song_library_format;
 	std::string tag_editor_album_format;
 	std::string external_editor;
+	std::string system_encoding;
 	
 	std::string pattern;