diff --git a/gyp/pylib/gyp/easy_xml.py b/gyp/pylib/gyp/easy_xml.py
index 2b0bb60cb4..841f31f925 100644
--- a/gyp/pylib/gyp/easy_xml.py
+++ b/gyp/pylib/gyp/easy_xml.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 import re
 import os
+import locale
 
 
 def XmlToString(content, encoding='utf-8', pretty=False):
@@ -115,11 +116,10 @@ def WriteXmlIfChanged(content, path, encoding='utf-8', pretty=False,
   xml_string = XmlToString(content, encoding, pretty)
   if win32 and os.linesep != '\r\n':
     xml_string = xml_string.replace('\n', '\r\n')
-    
-  try:
-    xml_string = xml_string.encode(encoding)
-  except Exception:
-    xml_string = unicode(xml_string, 'latin-1').encode(encoding)
+
+  default_encoding = locale.getdefaultlocale()[1]
+  if default_encoding.upper() != encoding.upper():
+    xml_string = xml_string.decode(default_encoding).encode(encoding)
 
   # Get the old content
   try:
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test-charmap.py b/test/fixtures/test-charmap.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..43e0c5ffc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/test-charmap.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import sys
+import locale
+
+reload(sys)
+
+def main():
+  encoding = locale.getdefaultlocale()[1]
+  sys.setdefaultencoding(encoding)
+  textmap = {
+    'cp936': u'\u4e2d\u6587',
+    'cp1252': u'Lat\u012Bna',
+    'cp932': u'\u306b\u307b\u3093\u3054'
+  }
+  if textmap.has_key(encoding):
+    print textmap[encoding]
+  return True
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+  print main()
diff --git a/test/test-addon.js b/test/test-addon.js
index c2a71f4498..f4bfd930e4 100644
--- a/test/test-addon.js
+++ b/test/test-addon.js
@@ -1,10 +1,35 @@
 'use strict'
 
 var test = require('tape')
-var execFile = require('child_process').execFile
 var path = require('path')
+var fs = require('graceful-fs')
+var child_process = require('child_process')
 var addonPath = path.resolve(__dirname, 'node_modules', 'hello_world')
 var nodeGyp = path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'bin', 'node-gyp.js')
+var execFileSync = child_process.execFileSync
+var execFile = child_process.execFile
+
+function runHello() {
+  var testCode = "console.log(require('hello_world').hello())"
+  return execFileSync('node', ['-e', testCode], { cwd: __dirname }).toString()
+}
+
+function getEncoding() {
+  var code = 'import locale;print locale.getdefaultlocale()[1]'
+  return execFileSync('python', ['-c', code]).toString().trim()
+}
+
+function checkCharmapValid() {
+  var data
+  try {
+    data = execFileSync('python', ['fixtures/test-charmap.py'], 
+                        { cwd: __dirname })
+  } catch (err) {
+    return false
+  }
+  var lines = data.toString().trim().split('\n')
+  return lines.pop() === 'True'
+}
 
 test('build simple addon', function (t) {
   t.plan(3)
@@ -16,12 +41,72 @@ test('build simple addon', function (t) {
     var lastLine = logLines[logLines.length-1]
     t.strictEqual(err, null)
     t.strictEqual(lastLine, 'gyp info ok', 'should end in ok')
+    t.strictEqual(runHello().trim(), 'world')
+  })
+  proc.stdout.setEncoding('utf-8')
+  proc.stderr.setEncoding('utf-8')
+})
+
+test('build simple addon in path with non-ascii characters', function (t) {
+  t.plan(1)
+
+  if (!checkCharmapValid()) {
+    return t.skip('python console app can\'t encode non-ascii character.')
+  }
+
+  var testDirNames = {
+    'cp936': '文件夹',
+    'cp1252': 'Latīna',
+    'cp932': 'フォルダ'
+  }
+  // Select non-ascii characters by current encoding
+  var testDirName = testDirNames[getEncoding()]
+  // If encoding is UTF-8 or other then no need to test
+  if (!testDirName) {
+    return t.skip('no need to test')
+  }
+
+  t.plan(3)
+
+  var data, configPath = path.join(addonPath, 'build', 'config.gypi')
+  try {
+    data = fs.readFileSync(configPath, 'utf8')
+  } catch (err) {
+    t.error(err)
+    return
+  }
+  var config = JSON.parse(data.replace(/\#.+\n/, ''))
+  var nodeDir = config.variables.nodedir
+  var testNodeDir = path.join(addonPath, testDirName)
+  // Create symbol link to path with non-ascii characters
+  try {
+    fs.symlinkSync(nodeDir, testNodeDir, 'dir')
+  } catch (err) {
+    switch (err.code) {
+      case 'EEXIST': break
+      case 'EPERM':
+        t.error(err, 'Please try to running console as an administrator')
+        return
+      default:
+        t.error(err)
+        return
+    }
+  }
+
+  var cmd = [nodeGyp, 'rebuild', '-C', addonPath,
+             '--loglevel=verbose', '-nodedir=' + testNodeDir]
+  var proc = execFile(process.execPath, cmd, function (err, stdout, stderr) {
     try {
-      var binding = require('hello_world')
-      t.strictEqual(binding.hello(), 'world')
-    } catch (error) {
-      t.error(error, 'load module')
+      fs.unlink(testNodeDir)
+    } catch (err) {
+      t.error(err)
     }
+
+    var logLines = stderr.toString().trim().split(/\r?\n/)
+    var lastLine = logLines[logLines.length-1]
+    t.strictEqual(err, null)
+    t.strictEqual(lastLine, 'gyp info ok', 'should end in ok')
+    t.strictEqual(runHello().trim(), 'world')
   })
   proc.stdout.setEncoding('utf-8')
   proc.stderr.setEncoding('utf-8')