diff --git a/dictd/Makefile.in b/dictd/Makefile.in
index ea1cb3f..f288dd3 100644
--- a/dictd/Makefile.in
+++ b/dictd/Makefile.in
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ LEXLIB= 	@LEXLIB@
 CFLAGS= @CPPFLAGS@ @DEFS@ @CFLAGS@ -DDICT_PLUGIN_PATH=\"$(PLUGIN_DIR)/\" -DDICT_DICTIONARY_PATH=\"$(DICT_DIR)/\" -DDICT_VERSION=\"$(DICT_VERSION)\" -DDICT_CONFIG_PATH=\"$(CONF_DIR)/\" -I. -I$(srcdir)
 
 LIBMAA=		@LIBMAA@
-LIBS=		@LIBS@ ${LIBMAA}
+LIBS=		@LIBS@ ${LIBMAA} @NATSPEC_LIBS@
 LDFLAGS=        @LDFLAGS@
 LIBOBJS=        @LIBOBJS@
 EXES=	 	dict dictd dictzip dictfmt
diff --git a/dictd/configure.in b/dictd/configure.in
index 857d85d..2f10ca9 100644
--- a/dictd/configure.in
+++ b/dictd/configure.in
@@ -144,6 +144,9 @@ if test "x${withval}" != xno; then
 fi
 ])
 
+# Checks for libnatspec
+AM_PATH_NATSPEC
+
 AC_CHECK_LIB(socket,main)
 AC_CHECK_LIB(c,inet_ntoa,
 	[true],
diff --git a/dictd/dict.c b/dictd/dict.c
index 2b831ec..d04ba59 100644
--- a/dictd/dict.c
+++ b/dictd/dict.c
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
 #include "parse.h"
 #include "md5.h"
 #include <stdarg.h>
+#include <locale.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_NATSPEC
+#include <natspec.h>
+#endif
 
 extern int         yy_flex_debug;
        lst_List    dict_Servers;
@@ -103,6 +107,8 @@ static void set_ex_status (int status)
 #define EXST_INVALID_STRATEGY        40
 #define EXST_CONNECTION_FAILED       41
 
+char *localcharset = "";
+
 struct def {
    lst_List   data;
    const char *word;
@@ -253,6 +259,8 @@ static lst_List client_read_text( int s )
    lst_List l = lst_create();
    char     line[BUFFERSIZE];
    int      len;
+   char     *source;
+
 
    while ((len = net_read(s, line, BUFFERSIZE - 1)) >= 0) {
       line [len] = 0;
@@ -260,10 +268,10 @@ static lst_List client_read_text( int s )
       client_bytes += len;
       PRINTF(DBG_RAW,("* Text: %s\n",line));
       if (line[0] == '.' && line[1] == '\0') break;
+	  source = line;
       if (len >= 2 && line[0] == '.' && line[1] == '.') 
-	 lst_append( l, xstrdup(line + 1) );
-      else
-	 lst_append( l, xstrdup(line) );
+           source++;
+      lst_append( l, natspec_convert(source, localcharset, "UTF-8", 3));
    }
    if (len < 0) {
        client_close_pager();
@@ -769,12 +777,15 @@ end:				/* Ready to send buffer, but are we
       cmd_reply.key     = c->key;
    }
    if ((len = strlen(buffer))) {
-      char *pt;
+      char *pt, *decodedline;
 
       PRINTF(DBG_PIPE,("* Sending %d commands (%d bytes)\n",count,len));
       PRINTF(DBG_RAW,("* Send/%d: %s",c->command,buffer));
-      pt = alloca(2*len);
-      client_crlf(pt,buffer);
+
+      decodedline = natspec_convert(buffer, "UTF-8", localcharset, 3);
+      pt = alloca(2*strlen(decodedline));
+      client_crlf(pt, decodedline);
+      free(decodedline);
       net_write( cmd_reply.s, pt, strlen(pt) );
    } else {
       PRINTF(DBG_PIPE,("* Sending nothing\n"));
@@ -1289,6 +1300,7 @@ static void help( FILE *out_stream )
       "-s --strategy <strategy>  strategy for matching or defining",
       "-c --config <file>        specify configuration file",
       "-C --nocorrect            disable attempted spelling correction",
+      "-n --notranslate          disable UTF-8 -> client encoding translation",
       "-D --dbs                  show available databases",
       "-S --strats               show available search strategies",
       "-H --serverhelp           show server help",
@@ -1347,6 +1359,7 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
       { "match",      0, 0, 'm' },
       { "strategy",   1, 0, 's' },
       { "nocorrect",  0, 0, 'C' },
+      { "notranslate",0, 0, 'n' }, 
       { "config",     1, 0, 'c' },
       { "dbs",        0, 0, 'D' },
       { "strats",     0, 0, 'S' },
@@ -1369,6 +1382,8 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
       { 0,            0, 0,  0  }
    };
 
+   setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "");
+
    dict_output = stdout;
    dict_error  = stderr;
 
@@ -1384,7 +1399,7 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
    dbg_register( DBG_URL,     "url" );
 
    while ((c = getopt_long( argc, argv,
-			    "h:p:d:i:Ims:DSHau:c:Ck:VLvrP:MfF",
+			    "h:p:d:i:Imns:DSHau:c:Ck:VLvrP:MfF",
 			    longopts, NULL )) != EOF)
    {
       switch (c) {
@@ -1394,6 +1409,7 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
       case 'i': database = optarg; function |= INFO;   break;
       case 'I':                    function |= SERVER; break;
       case 'm': function &= ~DEFINE; function |= MATCH; break;
+      case 'n': localcharset = "UTF-8";                break;
       case 's': strategy = optarg;                     break;
       case 'D':                    function |= DBS;    break;
       case 'S':                    function |= STRATS; break;
diff --git a/dictd/dictl.in b/dictd/dictl.in
index 913c7ef..4727fbf 100755
--- a/dictd/dictl.in
+++ b/dictd/dictl.in
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ shquote (){
     printf "%s\n" "'$__cmd'"
 }
 
-cmd='dict'
+cmd='dict -n'
 while test $# -ne 0; do
     cmd="$cmd "`shquote "$1"`
     shift