diff --git a/core/src/MultiFormatWriter.cpp b/core/src/MultiFormatWriter.cpp
index b278d848dd..e8d48471cc 100644
--- a/core/src/MultiFormatWriter.cpp
+++ b/core/src/MultiFormatWriter.cpp
@@ -49,9 +49,15 @@ MultiFormatWriter::encode(const std::wstring& contents, int width, int height) c
 		return exec0(std::move(writer));
 	};
 
+	auto exec2 = [&](auto&& writer) {
+		if (_encoding != CharacterSet::Unknown)
+			writer.setEncoding(_encoding);
+		return exec0(std::move(writer));
+	};
+
 	switch (_format) {
 	case BarcodeFormat::Aztec: return exec1(Aztec::Writer(), AztecEccLevel);
-	case BarcodeFormat::DataMatrix: return exec0(DataMatrix::Writer());
+	case BarcodeFormat::DataMatrix: return exec2(DataMatrix::Writer());
 	case BarcodeFormat::PDF417: return exec1(Pdf417::Writer(), Pdf417EccLevel);
 	case BarcodeFormat::QRCode: return exec1(QRCode::Writer(), QRCodeEccLevel);
 	case BarcodeFormat::Codabar: return exec0(OneD::CodabarWriter());
diff --git a/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.cpp b/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.cpp
index 9741de5473..db0859347f 100644
--- a/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.cpp
+++ b/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.cpp
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ static bool EndsWith(const std::wstring& s, const std::wstring& ss)
 
 ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg)
 {
-	return Encode(msg, SymbolShape::NONE, -1, -1, -1, -1);
+	return Encode(msg, CharacterSet::ISO8859_1, SymbolShape::NONE, -1, -1, -1, -1);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg)
 * @param maxSize the maximum symbol size constraint or null for no constraint
 * @return the encoded message (the char values range from 0 to 255)
 */
-ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg, SymbolShape shape, int minWidth, int minHeight, int maxWidth, int maxHeight)
+ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg, CharacterSet charset, SymbolShape shape, int minWidth, int minHeight, int maxWidth, int maxHeight)
 {
 	//the codewords 0..255 are encoded as Unicode characters
 	//Encoder[] encoders = {
@@ -879,7 +879,11 @@ ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg, SymbolShape shape, int minWidth, int m
 	//	new X12Encoder(), new EdifactEncoder(),  new Base256Encoder()
 	//};
 
-	EncoderContext context(TextEncoder::FromUnicode(msg, CharacterSet::ISO8859_1));
+	if (charset == CharacterSet::Unknown) {
+		charset = CharacterSet::ISO8859_1;
+	}
+
+	EncoderContext context(TextEncoder::FromUnicode(msg, charset));
 	context.setSymbolShape(shape);
 	context.setSizeConstraints(minWidth, minHeight, maxWidth, maxHeight);
 
diff --git a/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.h b/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.h
index 1a17587300..8f1e589707 100644
--- a/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.h
+++ b/core/src/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.h
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include "CharacterSet.h"
+
 #include <string>
 
 namespace ZXing {
@@ -21,7 +23,7 @@ enum class SymbolShape;
 * annex S.
 */
 ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg);
-ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg, SymbolShape shape, int minWidth, int minHeight, int maxWidth, int maxHeight);
+ByteArray Encode(const std::wstring& msg, CharacterSet encoding, SymbolShape shape, int minWidth, int minHeight, int maxWidth, int maxHeight);
 
 } // DataMatrix
 } // ZXing
diff --git a/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.cpp b/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.cpp
index e3ab758de3..a6723843c3 100644
--- a/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.cpp
+++ b/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 #include "BitMatrix.h"
 #include "ByteArray.h"
+#include "CharacterSet.h"
 #include "DMBitLayout.h"
 #include "DMECEncoder.h"
 #include "DMHighLevelEncoder.h"
@@ -75,7 +76,8 @@ static BitMatrix EncodeLowLevel(const BitMatrix& placement, const SymbolInfo& sy
 }
 
 Writer::Writer() :
-	_shapeHint(SymbolShape::NONE)
+	_shapeHint(SymbolShape::NONE),
+	_encoding(CharacterSet::Unknown)
 {
 }
 
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ Writer::encode(const std::wstring& contents, int width, int height) const
 	}
 
 	//1. step: Data encodation
-	auto encoded = Encode(contents, _shapeHint, _minWidth, _minHeight, _maxWidth, _maxHeight);
+	auto encoded = Encode(contents, _encoding, _shapeHint, _minWidth, _minHeight, _maxWidth, _maxHeight);
 	const SymbolInfo* symbolInfo = SymbolInfo::Lookup(Size(encoded), _shapeHint, _minWidth, _minHeight, _maxWidth, _maxHeight);
 	if (symbolInfo == nullptr) {
 		throw std::invalid_argument("Can't find a symbol arrangement that matches the message. Data codewords: " + std::to_string(encoded.size()));
diff --git a/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.h b/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.h
index c0e3a43ee4..896f0036e8 100644
--- a/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.h
+++ b/core/src/datamatrix/DMWriter.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include "CharacterSet.h"
 #include "DMSymbolShape.h"
 
 #include <string>
@@ -43,12 +44,18 @@ class Writer
 		return *this;
 	}
 
+	Writer& setEncoding(CharacterSet encoding) {
+		_encoding = encoding;
+		return *this;
+	}
+
 	BitMatrix encode(const std::wstring& contents, int width, int height) const;
 	BitMatrix encode(const std::string& contents, int width, int height) const;
 
 private:
 	SymbolShape _shapeHint;
 	int _quietZone = 1, _minWidth = -1, _minHeight = -1, _maxWidth = -1, _maxHeight = -1;
+	CharacterSet _encoding;
 };
 
 } // DataMatrix
diff --git a/test/unit/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncodeTest.cpp b/test/unit/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncodeTest.cpp
index cf03ef4e62..fd436b8e8b 100644
--- a/test/unit/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncodeTest.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncodeTest.cpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 #include "ByteArray.h"
+#include "CharacterSet.h"
 #include "ZXAlgorithms.h"
 #include "datamatrix/DMHighLevelEncoder.h"
 #include "datamatrix/DMSymbolInfo.h"
@@ -346,7 +347,7 @@ TEST(DMHighLevelEncodeTest, EncodingWithStartAsX12AndLatchToEDIFACTInTheMiddle)
 TEST(DMHighLevelEncodeTest, EDIFACTWithEODBug)
 {
 	std::string visualized = Visualize(
-		DataMatrix::Encode(L"abc<->ABCDE", DataMatrix::SymbolShape::SQUARE, -1, -1, -1, -1));
+		DataMatrix::Encode(L"abc<->ABCDE", CharacterSet::ISO8859_1, DataMatrix::SymbolShape::SQUARE, -1, -1, -1, -1));
 	// switch to EDIFACT on '<', uses 10 code words + 2 padding. Buggy code introduced invalid 254 after the 5
 	EXPECT_EQ(visualized, "98 99 100 240 242 223 129 8 49 5 129 147");
 }

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