diff --git a/pisi/__init__.py b/pisi/__init__.py
index 3f26f94b..31634d8b 100644
--- a/pisi/__init__.py
+++ b/pisi/__init__.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 # PiSi version
 
 import os
+import sys
 import atexit
 import logging
 
@@ -67,6 +68,11 @@ def _cleanup():
     ctx.ui.close()
     ctx.enable_keyboard_interrupts()
 
+# Hack for pisi to work with non-patched Python. pisi needs
+# lots of work for not doing this.
+reload(sys)
+sys.setdefaultencoding('utf-8')
+
 atexit.register(_cleanup)
 
 ctx.config = pisi.config.Config(pisi.config.Options())