diff --git a/atomstrom.py b/atomstrom.py
index 9d4e502..e16d390 100755
--- a/atomstrom.py
+++ b/atomstrom.py
@@ -141,11 +141,12 @@ class Entry(Base):
 
 
 def send_mail(sender, receiver, subject, body):
-    print 'sending to %s: %s' % (receiver.decode('latin-1'), subject.decode('latin-1'))
-    mail = MIMEText(body)
+    subject = subject.decode('latin-1')
+    print 'sending to %s: %s' % (receiver.decode('latin-1'), subject)
+    mail = MIMEText(body, _charset='utf-8')
     mail['From'] = sender
     mail['To'] = receiver
-    mail['Subject'] = subject.decode('latin-1')
+    mail['Subject'] = subject
     mailserver = smtplib.SMTP('localhost')
     mailserver.sendmail(sender, [receiver], mail.as_string())
     mailserver.quit()
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ def get_entry_text(entry):
         text = entry.summary
     else:
         text = 'no text, sorry'
+    text = text.decode('latin-1')
     return text
 
 def mail_daily_digest(session, sender, receiver, prefix):