diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 01b7abe3..956f3dea 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -16399,3 +16399,8 @@
 	rd.conf(5).
 	* Refactored the schema update code to use standard form
 	in rdadmin(1).
+2017-12-01 Fred Gleason <fredg@paravelsystems.com>
+	* Added a 'Charset=' directive to the [MySQL] section of
+	rd.conf(5).
+	* Added an 'Collation=' directive to the [MySQL] section of
+	rd.conf(5).
diff --git a/conf/rd.conf-sample b/conf/rd.conf-sample
index 6755a876..1855cdad 100644
--- a/conf/rd.conf-sample
+++ b/conf/rd.conf-sample
@@ -26,15 +26,11 @@ Password=letmein
 Database=Rivendell
 Driver=QMYSQL3
 
-; Specify the type of DB storage engine to use when creating new tables.
-; To get a list of supported engine types, use the 'SHOW ENGINES;' command
-; in mysql(1).
-;
-; It is also possible to specify 'default', in which case Rivendell will
-; use whatever default engine type is configured in MySQL.
-;
-; The default value is 'default'.
+; The following three settings control the attributes of new DB tables
+; created by Rivendell.
 Engine=MyISAM
+Charset=latin1
+Collation=latin1_swedish_ci
 
 [AudioStore]
 MountSource=
diff --git a/lib/rd.h b/lib/rd.h
index a1670345..cbc9399d 100644
--- a/lib/rd.h
+++ b/lib/rd.h
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@
 #define DEFAULT_MYSQL_DRIVER "QMYSQL3"
 #define DEFAULT_MYSQL_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL 360
 #define DEFAULT_MYSQL_ENGINE "default"
+#define DEFAULT_MYSQL_CHARSET "latin1"
+#define DEFAULT_MYSQL_COLLATION "latin1_swedish_ci"
 #define MYSQL_BUILTIN_DATABASE "mysql"
 #define POSTGRESQL_BUILTIN_DATABASE "template1"
 
diff --git a/lib/rdconfig.cpp b/lib/rdconfig.cpp
index e552056f..35f32682 100644
--- a/lib/rdconfig.cpp
+++ b/lib/rdconfig.cpp
@@ -187,6 +187,18 @@ QString RDConfig::mysqlEngine() const
 }
 
 
+QString RDConfig::mysqlCharset() const
+{
+  return conf_mysql_charset;
+}
+
+
+QString RDConfig::mysqlCollation() const
+{
+  return conf_mysql_collation;
+}
+
+
 QString RDConfig::createTablePostfix() const
 {
   return conf_create_table_postfix;
@@ -571,12 +583,13 @@ void RDConfig::load()
 		      DEFAULT_MYSQL_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL);
   conf_mysql_engine=
     profile->stringValue("mySQL","Engine",DEFAULT_MYSQL_ENGINE);
-  if(conf_mysql_engine.lower()=="default") {
-    conf_create_table_postfix="";
-  }
-  else {
-    conf_create_table_postfix=QString(" engine ")+conf_mysql_engine;
-  }
+  conf_mysql_charset=
+    profile->stringValue("mySQL","Charset",DEFAULT_MYSQL_CHARSET);
+  conf_mysql_collation=
+    profile->stringValue("mySQL","Collation",DEFAULT_MYSQL_COLLATION);
+  conf_create_table_postfix=QString(" engine ")+conf_mysql_engine+" "+
+    "character set "+conf_mysql_charset+" "+
+    "collate "+conf_mysql_collation;
 
   facility=profile->stringValue("Logs","Facility",DEFAULT_LOG_FACILITY).lower();
   if(facility=="syslog") {
@@ -683,6 +696,8 @@ void RDConfig::clear()
   conf_mysql_driver="";
   conf_mysql_heartbeat_interval=DEFAULT_MYSQL_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL;
   conf_mysql_engine=DEFAULT_MYSQL_ENGINE;
+  conf_mysql_charset=DEFAULT_MYSQL_CHARSET;
+  conf_mysql_collation=DEFAULT_MYSQL_COLLATION;
   conf_create_table_postfix="";
   conf_log_facility=RDConfig::LogSyslog;
   conf_log_directory="";
diff --git a/lib/rdconfig.h b/lib/rdconfig.h
index 9ea7ad93..5f32238e 100644
--- a/lib/rdconfig.h
+++ b/lib/rdconfig.h
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ class RDConfig
   QString mysqlDriver() const;
   int mysqlHeartbeatInterval() const;
   QString mysqlEngine() const;
+  QString mysqlCharset() const;
+  QString mysqlCollation() const;
   QString createTablePostfix() const;
   RDConfig::LogFacility logFacility() const;
   QString logDirectory() const;
@@ -127,6 +129,8 @@ class RDConfig
   QString conf_mysql_password;
   QString conf_mysql_driver;
   QString conf_mysql_engine;
+  QString conf_mysql_charset;
+  QString conf_mysql_collation;
   QString conf_create_table_postfix;
   int conf_mysql_heartbeat_interval;
   RDConfig::LogFacility conf_log_facility;