diff --git a/C4/Context.pm b/C4/Context.pm
index c5f92ee91b..74b5c2471a 100644
--- a/C4/Context.pm
+++ b/C4/Context.pm
@@ -1097,7 +1097,9 @@ set_userenv is called in Auth.pm
 
 #'
 sub set_userenv {
-    my ($usernum, $userid, $usercnum, $userfirstname, $usersurname, $userbranch, $branchname, $userflags, $emailaddress, $branchprinter, $persona, $shibboleth)= @_;
+    my ($usernum, $userid, $usercnum, $userfirstname, $usersurname, $userbranch, $branchname, $userflags, $emailaddress, $branchprinter, $persona, $shibboleth)=
+    map { Encode::is_utf8( $_ ) ? $_ : Encode::decode('UTF-8', $_) } # CGI::Session doesn't handle utf-8, so we decode it here
+    @_;
     my $var=$context->{"activeuser"} || '';
     my $cell = {
         "number"     => $usernum,