diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 9ca2f8038e..4549dedbe7 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Merged from 2.2:
  * (cqlsh) Support utf-8/cp65001 encoding on Windows (CASSANDRA-11030)
  * Fix paging on DISTINCT queries repeats result when first row in partition changes
    (CASSANDRA-10010)
+ * cqlsh: change default encoding to UTF-8 (CASSANDRA-11124)
 Merged from 2.1:
  * Don't remove FailureDetector history on removeEndpoint (CASSANDRA-10371)
  * Only notify if repair status changed (CASSANDRA-11172)
diff --git a/bin/cqlsh.py b/bin/cqlsh.py
index a4dd2530cb..8dbc1cedda 100644
--- a/bin/cqlsh.py
+++ b/bin/cqlsh.py
@@ -213,9 +213,8 @@ parser.add_option('-k', '--keyspace', help='Authenticate to the given keyspace.'
 parser.add_option("-f", "--file", help="Execute commands from FILE, then exit")
 parser.add_option('--debug', action='store_true',
                   help='Show additional debugging information')
-parser.add_option("--encoding", help="Specify a non-default encoding for output.  If you are " +
-                  "experiencing problems with unicode characters, using utf8 may fix the problem." +
-                  " (Default from system preferences: %s)" % (locale.getpreferredencoding(),))
+parser.add_option("--encoding", help="Specify a non-default encoding for output." +
+                  " (Default: %s)" % (UTF8,))
 parser.add_option("--cqlshrc", help="Specify an alternative cqlshrc file location.")
 parser.add_option('--cqlversion', default=DEFAULT_CQLVER,
                   help='Specify a particular CQL version (default: %default).'
@@ -760,10 +759,6 @@ class Shell(cmd.Cmd):
         self.session.max_trace_wait = max_trace_wait
 
         self.tty = tty
-        if encoding is None:
-            encoding = locale.getpreferredencoding()
-            if encoding is None:
-                encoding = UTF8
         self.encoding = encoding
         self.check_windows_encoding()
 
@@ -2445,7 +2440,7 @@ def read_options(cmdlineargs, environment):
     optvalues.debug = False
     optvalues.file = None
     optvalues.ssl = False
-    optvalues.encoding = None
+    optvalues.encoding = option_with_default(configs.get, 'ui', 'encoding', UTF8)
 
     optvalues.tty = option_with_default(configs.getboolean, 'ui', 'tty', sys.stdin.isatty())
     optvalues.cqlversion = option_with_default(configs.get, 'cql', 'version', DEFAULT_CQLVER)
@@ -2558,6 +2553,7 @@ def main(options, hostname, port):
     if options.debug:
         sys.stderr.write("Using CQL driver: %s\n" % (cassandra,))
         sys.stderr.write("Using connect timeout: %s seconds\n" % (options.connect_timeout,))
+        sys.stderr.write("Using '%s' encoding\n" % (options.encoding,))
 
     # create timezone based on settings, environment or auto-detection
     timezone = None
diff --git a/conf/cqlshrc.sample b/conf/cqlshrc.sample
index a0012a3ace..462dcc6d0a 100644
--- a/conf/cqlshrc.sample
+++ b/conf/cqlshrc.sample
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@
 ;; Used for automatic completion and suggestions
 ; completekey = tab
 
-
+;; The encoding used for characters
+; encoding = utf8
 
 ; To use another than the system default browser for cqlsh HELP to open
 ; the CQL doc HTML, use the 'browser' preference.