diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 37fe0b553a..c6f6145683 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -70,10 +70,9 @@ set(keepassx_SOURCES
         core/Clock.cpp
         core/Tools.cpp
         core/Translator.cpp
-        core/Base32.h
         core/Base32.cpp
         cli/Utils.cpp
-        cli/Utils.h
+        cli/TextStream.cpp
         crypto/Crypto.cpp
         crypto/CryptoHash.cpp
         crypto/Random.cpp
diff --git a/src/cli/Add.cpp b/src/cli/Add.cpp
index 81a5cad135..09a1610718 100644
--- a/src/cli/Add.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Add.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 #include "Add.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Entry.h"
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ Add::~Add()
 
 int Add::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream inputTextStream(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-    QTextStream outputTextStream(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream errorTextStream(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream inputTextStream(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream outputTextStream(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream errorTextStream(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
diff --git a/src/cli/Clip.cpp b/src/cli/Clip.cpp
index 0b78a24b40..f04c8b5e95 100644
--- a/src/cli/Clip.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Clip.cpp
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
 #include "Clip.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Entry.h"
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Clip::~Clip()
 
 int Clip::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ int Clip::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 
 int Clip::clipEntry(Database* database, QString entryPath, QString timeout)
 {
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR);
 
     int timeoutSeconds = 0;
     if (!timeout.isEmpty() && !timeout.toInt()) {
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ int Clip::clipEntry(Database* database, QString entryPath, QString timeout)
         timeoutSeconds = timeout.toInt();
     }
 
-    QTextStream outputTextStream(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream outputTextStream(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
     Entry* entry = database->rootGroup()->findEntry(entryPath);
     if (!entry) {
         err << QObject::tr("Entry %1 not found.").arg(entryPath) << endl;
diff --git a/src/cli/Diceware.cpp b/src/cli/Diceware.cpp
index 72cbd19605..d2821e7cc1 100644
--- a/src/cli/Diceware.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Diceware.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 #include "Diceware.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "core/PassphraseGenerator.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
 
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ Diceware::~Diceware()
 
 int Diceware::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
diff --git a/src/cli/Edit.cpp b/src/cli/Edit.cpp
index c2f0677941..91a76b195c 100644
--- a/src/cli/Edit.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Edit.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 #include "Edit.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Entry.h"
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ Edit::~Edit()
 
 int Edit::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
diff --git a/src/cli/Estimate.cpp b/src/cli/Estimate.cpp
index c249d7b1f0..db32f8dc71 100644
--- a/src/cli/Estimate.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Estimate.cpp
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Estimate::~Estimate()
 
 static void estimate(const char* pwd, bool advanced)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     double e = 0.0;
     int len = static_cast<int>(strlen(pwd));
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ static void estimate(const char* pwd, bool advanced)
 
 int Estimate::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
diff --git a/src/cli/Extract.cpp b/src/cli/Extract.cpp
index cc39c469ad..32b1bc0285 100644
--- a/src/cli/Extract.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Extract.cpp
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
 #include <QFile>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "format/KeePass2Reader.h"
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ Extract::~Extract()
 
 int Extract::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
diff --git a/src/cli/Generate.cpp b/src/cli/Generate.cpp
index 7780aa8294..da2deb8d85 100644
--- a/src/cli/Generate.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Generate.cpp
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "core/PasswordGenerator.h"
 
 Generate::Generate()
@@ -38,9 +38,8 @@ Generate::~Generate()
 
 int Generate::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    out.setCodec("UTF-8");  // force UTF-8 to prevent ??? characters in extended-ASCII passwords
+    TextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
@@ -87,8 +86,7 @@ int Generate::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
     if (parser.value(len).isEmpty()) {
         passwordGenerator.setLength(PasswordGenerator::DefaultLength);
     } else {
-        int length = parser.value(len).toInt();
-        passwordGenerator.setLength(static_cast<size_t>(length));
+        passwordGenerator.setLength(parser.value(len).toInt());
     }
 
     PasswordGenerator::CharClasses classes = 0x0;
diff --git a/src/cli/List.cpp b/src/cli/List.cpp
index 4d1ebcfc50..6d85404ff2 100644
--- a/src/cli/List.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/List.cpp
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Entry.h"
 #include "core/Group.h"
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ List::~List()
 
 int List::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ int List::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 
 int List::listGroup(Database* database, bool recursive, const QString& groupPath)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     if (groupPath.isEmpty()) {
         out << database->rootGroup()->print(recursive) << flush;
diff --git a/src/cli/Locate.cpp b/src/cli/Locate.cpp
index 3bca8ae1da..8ab8f4c61b 100644
--- a/src/cli/Locate.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Locate.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-#include <utility>
-
 /*
  *  Copyright (C) 2017 KeePassXC Team <team@keepassxc.org>
  *
@@ -24,8 +22,8 @@
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
 #include <QStringList>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 #include "core/Global.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
@@ -44,7 +42,7 @@ Locate::~Locate()
 
 int Locate::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
@@ -73,8 +71,8 @@ int Locate::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 
 int Locate::locateEntry(Database* database, const QString& searchTerm)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QStringList results = database->rootGroup()->locate(searchTerm);
     if (results.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/src/cli/Merge.cpp b/src/cli/Merge.cpp
index a5b4a2cb7e..e81b7aa99c 100644
--- a/src/cli/Merge.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Merge.cpp
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 #include "Merge.h"
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Merger.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ Merge::~Merge()
 
 int Merge::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
diff --git a/src/cli/Remove.cpp b/src/cli/Remove.cpp
index 6523cff97d..4800b5c941 100644
--- a/src/cli/Remove.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Remove.cpp
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
 #include <QCoreApplication>
 #include <QStringList>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "cli/Utils.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Entry.h"
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Remove::~Remove()
 
 int Remove::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(QCoreApplication::tr("main", "Remove an entry from the database."));
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ int Remove::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 
 int Remove::removeEntry(Database* database, const QString& databasePath, const QString& entryPath)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     QPointer<Entry> entry = database->rootGroup()->findEntryByPath(entryPath);
     if (!entry) {
diff --git a/src/cli/Show.cpp b/src/cli/Show.cpp
index 5e2ec14b4f..032f1fcad4 100644
--- a/src/cli/Show.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Show.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include "core/Database.h"
 #include "core/Entry.h"
 #include "core/Group.h"
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ Show::~Show()
 
 int Show::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 {
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT);
 
     QCommandLineParser parser;
     parser.setApplicationDescription(description);
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@ int Show::execute(const QStringList& arguments)
 
 int Show::showEntry(Database* database, QStringList attributes, const QString& entryPath)
 {
-    QTextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
-    QTextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream in(Utils::STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream out(Utils::STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     Entry* entry = database->rootGroup()->findEntry(entryPath);
     if (!entry) {
diff --git a/src/cli/TextStream.cpp b/src/cli/TextStream.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d75cb74a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/TextStream.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/*
+ *  Copyright (C) 2018 KeePassXC Team <team@keepassxc.org>
+ *
+ *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 or (at your option)
+ *  version 3 of the License.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include "TextStream.h"
+
+#include <QProcessEnvironment>
+#include <QTextCodec>
+
+TextStream::TextStream()
+{
+    detectCodec();
+}
+
+TextStream::TextStream(QIODevice* device)
+    : QTextStream(device)
+{
+    detectCodec();
+}
+
+TextStream::TextStream(FILE* fileHandle, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode)
+    : QTextStream(fileHandle, openMode)
+{
+    detectCodec();
+}
+
+TextStream::TextStream(QString* string, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode)
+    : QTextStream(string, openMode)
+{
+    detectCodec();
+}
+
+TextStream::TextStream(QByteArray* array, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode)
+    : QTextStream(array, openMode)
+{
+    detectCodec();
+}
+
+TextStream::TextStream(const QByteArray& array, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode)
+    : QTextStream(array, openMode)
+{
+    detectCodec();
+}
+
+void TextStream::detectCodec()
+{
+    QString codecName = "UTF-8";
+    auto env = QProcessEnvironment::systemEnvironment();
+#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
+    if (!env.contains("SHELL")) {
+        // native shell (no Msys or cygwin)
+        codecName = "Windows-850";
+    }
+#endif
+    codecName = env.value("ENCODING_OVERRIDE", codecName);
+    auto* codec = QTextCodec::codecForName(codecName.toLatin1());
+    if (codec) {
+        setCodec(codec);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/cli/TextStream.h b/src/cli/TextStream.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..971f8651de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cli/TextStream.h
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ *  Copyright (C) 2018 KeePassXC Team <team@keepassxc.org>
+ *
+ *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 or (at your option)
+ *  version 3 of the License.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef KEEPASSXC_TEXTSTREAM_H
+#define KEEPASSXC_TEXTSTREAM_H
+
+#include <QTextStream>
+
+/**
+ * QTextStream with codec fixes for the Windows command line.
+ *
+ * QTextStream uses the system default locale, but this breaks in various
+ * situations: (1) It does not work on the native Windows shell (cmd.exe, Powershell),
+ * since the default Windows locale is Windows-1252, but the shell uses Windows-850.
+ * (2) It also breaks on *nix systems where the locale is Latin1 or C, which
+ * is the case for most CI systems or build servers.
+ *
+ * We allow overriding the detected codec by setting the ENCODING_OVERRIDE
+ * environment variable, but otherwise prefer Windows-850 on Windows and UTF-8
+ * on any other system, even if LANG is set to something else.
+ */
+class TextStream : public QTextStream
+{
+public:
+    TextStream();
+    explicit TextStream(QIODevice* device);
+    explicit TextStream(FILE* fileHandle, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode = QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    explicit TextStream(QString* string, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode = QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    explicit TextStream(QByteArray* array, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode = QIODevice::ReadWrite);
+    explicit TextStream(const QByteArray& array, QIODevice::OpenMode openMode = QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+
+private:
+    void detectCodec();
+};
+
+#endif //KEEPASSXC_TEXTSTREAM_H
diff --git a/src/cli/Utils.cpp b/src/cli/Utils.cpp
index a0f75bc8e3..a7bf83c136 100644
--- a/src/cli/Utils.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/Utils.cpp
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ void setNextPassword(const QString& password)
  */
 QString getPassword()
 {
-    QTextStream out(STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
+    TextStream out(STDOUT, QIODevice::WriteOnly);
 
     // return preset password if one is set
     if (!Test::nextPasswords.isEmpty()) {
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ QString getPassword()
         return password;
     }
 
-    QTextStream in(STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
+    TextStream in(STDIN, QIODevice::ReadOnly);
 
     setStdinEcho(false);
     QString line = in.readLine();
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ QString getPassword()
  */
 int clipText(const QString& text)
 {
-    QTextStream err(Utils::STDERR);
+    TextStream err(Utils::STDERR);
 
     QString programName = "";
     QStringList arguments;
diff --git a/src/cli/Utils.h b/src/cli/Utils.h
index 1d5e0f356e..a5c995f108 100644
--- a/src/cli/Utils.h
+++ b/src/cli/Utils.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #define KEEPASSXC_UTILS_H
 
 #include <QtCore/qglobal.h>
-#include <QTextStream>
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 
 namespace Utils
 {
diff --git a/src/cli/keepassxc-cli.cpp b/src/cli/keepassxc-cli.cpp
index 0419086638..a2399e741d 100644
--- a/src/cli/keepassxc-cli.cpp
+++ b/src/cli/keepassxc-cli.cpp
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@
 #include <QCommandLineParser>
 #include <QCoreApplication>
 #include <QStringList>
-#include <QTextStream>
 
+#include "cli/TextStream.h"
 #include <cli/Command.h>
 
 #include "config-keepassx.h"
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     Bootstrap::bootstrapApplication();
 #endif
 
-    QTextStream out(stdout);
+    TextStream out(stdout);
     QStringList arguments;
     for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
         arguments << QString(argv[i]);
diff --git a/tests/TestCli.cpp b/tests/TestCli.cpp
index e10a651d77..c95b1f32b3 100644
--- a/tests/TestCli.cpp
+++ b/tests/TestCli.cpp
@@ -455,12 +455,13 @@ void TestCli::testGenerate()
 
     qint64 pos = 0;
     // run multiple times to make accidental passes unlikely
+    TextStream stream(m_stdoutFile.data());
     for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) {
         generateCmd.execute(parameters);
-        m_stdoutFile->seek(pos);
+        stream.seek(pos);
         QRegularExpression regex(pattern);
-        QString password = QString::fromUtf8(m_stdoutFile->readLine());
-        pos = m_stdoutFile->pos();
+        QString password = stream.readLine();
+        pos = stream.pos();
         QVERIFY2(regex.match(password).hasMatch(), qPrintable("Password " + password + " does not match pattern " + pattern));
     }
 }