--- a/nucleus/libs/sql/mysql.php	2009-09-19 20:03:20.556432000 -0700
+++ b/nucleus/libs/sql/mysql.php	2009-09-19 20:03:15.274238000 -0700
@@ -61,12 +61,38 @@
 		global $MYSQL_HOST, $MYSQL_USER, $MYSQL_PASSWORD, $MYSQL_DATABASE, $MYSQL_CONN;
 
 		$MYSQL_CONN = @mysql_connect($MYSQL_HOST, $MYSQL_USER, $MYSQL_PASSWORD) or startUpError('<p>Could not connect to MySQL database.</p>', 'Connect Error');
+		$charset = _getDbCharset($MYSQL_DATABASE);
+		if($charset)
+			mysql_query("SET NAMES '$charset'");
 		mysql_select_db($MYSQL_DATABASE) or startUpError('<p>Could not select database: ' . mysql_error() . '</p>', 'Connect Error');
 
 		return $MYSQL_CONN;
 	}
 
 	/**
+	 * Get DB default charset
+	 */
+	function _getDbCharset($db) {
+		if (!$db) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		// We use a SHOW CREATE DATABASE command to show the original
+		// SQL character set when DB was created.
+		$result = mysql_query("SHOW CREATE DATABASE `$db`");
+		if (mysql_num_rows($result) < 0 ) {
+			// The specified db name is wrong!
+			return false;
+		}
+		$dbInfo = mysql_fetch_row($result);
+		$pattern = '/40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET (\w+) /';
+		if ( (preg_match($pattern, $dbInfo[1], $match) > 0) ) {
+			return $match[1];
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	/**
 	  * disconnects from SQL server
 	  */
 	function sql_disconnect($conn = false) {