diff --git a/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb b/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
index 05a097c7..43244b47 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/configuration.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ module Jekyll
 
       'timezone'      => nil,           # use the local timezone
 
+      'encoding'      => nil,           # use the system encoding
+
       'safe'          => false,
       'detach'        => false,          # default to not detaching the server
       'show_drafts'   => nil,
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
index 5f493800..44bd8b9a 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
@@ -20,16 +20,23 @@ module Jekyll
       self.content || ''
     end
 
+    # Returns merged optin hash for File.read of self.site (if exists)
+    # and a given param
+    def merged_file_read_opts(opts)
+      (self.site ? self.site.file_read_opts : {}).merge(opts)
+    end
+
     # Read the YAML frontmatter.
     #
     # base - The String path to the dir containing the file.
     # name - The String filename of the file.
+    # opts - optional parameter to File.read, default at site configs
     #
     # Returns nothing.
-    def read_yaml(base, name)
+    def read_yaml(base, name, opts = {})
       begin
-        self.content = File.read(File.join(base, name))
-
+        self.content = File.read_with_options(File.join(base, name),
+                                              merged_file_read_opts(opts))
         if self.content =~ /\A(---\s*\n.*?\n?)^(---\s*$\n?)/m
           self.content = $POSTMATCH
           self.data = YAML.safe_load($1)
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/core_ext.rb b/lib/jekyll/core_ext.rb
index 1a7b1816..54f7c9d5 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/core_ext.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/core_ext.rb
@@ -69,3 +69,18 @@ module Enumerable
     any? { |exp| File.fnmatch?(exp, e) }
   end
 end
+
+# Ruby 1.8's File.read don't support option.
+# read_with_options ignore optional parameter for 1.8,
+# and act as alias for 1.9 or later.
+class File
+  if RUBY_VERSION < '1.9'
+    def self.read_with_options(path, opts = {})
+      self.read(path)
+    end
+  else
+    def self.read_with_options(path, opts = {})
+      self.read(path, opts)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/site.rb b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
index ef7be1fc..6084631a 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/site.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module Jekyll
     attr_accessor :config, :layouts, :posts, :pages, :static_files,
                   :categories, :exclude, :include, :source, :dest, :lsi, :pygments,
                   :permalink_style, :tags, :time, :future, :safe, :plugins, :limit_posts,
-                  :show_drafts, :keep_files, :baseurl
+                  :show_drafts, :keep_files, :baseurl, :file_read_opts
 
     attr_accessor :converters, :generators
 
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ module Jekyll
       self.plugins         = plugins_path
       self.permalink_style = config['permalink'].to_sym
 
+      self.file_read_opts = {}
+      self.file_read_opts[:encoding] = config['encoding'] if config['encoding']
+
       self.reset
       self.setup
     end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb b/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb
index 2b0d82b4..57095ce7 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/tags/include.rb
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ eos
         end
       end
 
+      # Grab file read opts in the context
+      def file_read_opts(context)
+        context.registers[:site].file_read_opts
+      end
+
       def render(context)
         dir = File.join(context.registers[:site].source, INCLUDES_DIR)
         if error = validate_dir(dir, context.registers[:site].safe)
@@ -81,7 +86,7 @@ eos
           return error
         end
 
-        partial = Liquid::Template.parse(source(file))
+        partial = Liquid::Template.parse(source(file, context))
 
         context.stack do
           context['include'] = parse_params(context) if @params
@@ -108,8 +113,8 @@ eos
       end
 
       # This method allows to modify the file content by inheriting from the class.
-      def source(file)
-        File.read(file)
+      def source(file, context)
+        File.read_with_options(file, file_read_opts(context))
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/site/docs/configuration.md b/site/docs/configuration.md
index fa92c6d1..31bf7048 100644
--- a/site/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/site/docs/configuration.md
@@ -99,6 +99,22 @@ class="flag">flags</code> (specified on the command-line) that control them.
         <p><code class="option">timezone: TIMEZONE</code></p>
       </td>
     </tr>
+    <tr class='setting'>
+      <td>
+        <p class='name'><strong>Encoding</strong></p>
+        <p class="description">
+            Set the encoding of files by name. Only available for Ruby
+            1.9 or later).
+            The default value is nil, which use Ruby default,
+            <code>ASCII-8BIT</code>.
+            Available encoding for the ruby in use, can be shown by
+            command <code>ruby -e 'puts Encoding::list.join("\n")'</code>
+        </p>
+      </td>
+      <td class='align-center'>
+        <p><code class="option">encoding: ENCODING</code></p>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
   </tbody>
 </table>
 </div>
@@ -266,6 +282,7 @@ include:     ['.htaccess']
 exclude:     []
 keep_files:  ['.git','.svn']
 timezone:    nil
+encoding:    nil
 
 future:      true
 show_drafts: nil
diff --git a/test/test_convertible.rb b/test/test_convertible.rb
index ee7fc8e3..694c152c 100644
--- a/test/test_convertible.rb
+++ b/test/test_convertible.rb
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class TestConvertible < Test::Unit::TestCase
       should "not parse if there is encoding error in file" do
         name = 'broken_front_matter3.erb'
         out = capture_stdout do
-          ret = @convertible.read_yaml(@base, name)
+          ret = @convertible.read_yaml(@base, name, :encoding => 'utf-8')
           assert_equal({}, ret)
         end
         assert_match(/invalid byte sequence in UTF-8/, out)