diff --git a/bin/build-original-i2p.sh b/bin/build-original-i2p.sh
index 8760a30..f801211 100755
--- a/bin/build-original-i2p.sh
+++ b/bin/build-original-i2p.sh
@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@ else
     basedir=$(dirname $(dirname $(readlink -fm $0)))
 fi
 
-cd $basedir/import
-
 source $basedir/bin/java-config.sh
 
+cd $basedir/import
+
 # build the jars we're going to modularize
 cd $basedir/import/i2p.i2p
+export LG2=en
 $basedir/import/apache-ant-1.10.5/bin/ant buildRouter buildI2PTunnelJars buildSAM jbigi
 cd ..
 
diff --git a/bin/java-config.sh b/bin/java-config.sh
index 45682c8..ba49122 100644
--- a/bin/java-config.sh
+++ b/bin/java-config.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ else
     basedir=$(dirname $(dirname $(readlink -fm $0)))
 fi
 
+export JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS=-Dfile.encoding=UTF8
+
 JDK_DOWNLOAD_FILENAME_LINUX=OpenJDK11U-jdk_x64_linux_hotspot_11.0.1_13.tar.gz
 JDK_DOWNLOAD_FILENAME_MAC=OpenJDK11U-jdk_x64_mac_hotspot_11.0.1_13.tar.gz
 JDK_DOWNLOAD_FILENAME_WIN=OpenJDK11U-jdk_x64_windows_hotspot_11.0.1_13.zip