diff --git a/src/encoding.C b/src/encoding.C
index b1a41fd396..2bfb4a8a2f 100644
--- a/src/encoding.C
+++ b/src/encoding.C
@@ -179,11 +179,8 @@ docstring const Encoding::latexChar(char_type c) const
 }
 
 
-void Encoding::validate(char_type c, LaTeXFeatures & features) const
+void Encodings::validate(char_type c, LaTeXFeatures & features)
 {
-	// Add the preamble stuff even if c can be encoded in this encoding,
-	// since the inputenc package only maps the code point c to a command,
-	// it does not make this command available.
 	CharInfoMap::const_iterator const it = unicodesymbols.find(c);
 	if (it != unicodesymbols.end() && !it->second.preamble.empty()) {
 		if (it->second.feature)
diff --git a/src/encoding.h b/src/encoding.h
index f07fb645a4..61ee7c6811 100644
--- a/src/encoding.h
+++ b/src/encoding.h
@@ -48,9 +48,6 @@ public:
 	 * character is returned.
 	 */
 	docstring const latexChar(char_type c) const;
-	/// Add the preamble snippet needed for the output of latexChar(c)
-	/// to \p features.
-	void validate(char_type c, LaTeXFeatures & features) const;
 private:
 	///
 	std::string Name_;
@@ -123,6 +120,14 @@ public:
 	static char_type transformChar(char_type c, Letter_Form form);
 	/// Is this a combining char?
 	static bool isCombiningChar(char_type c);
+	/**
+	 * Add the preamble snippet needed for the output of \p c to
+	 * \p features.
+	 * This does not depend on the used encoding, since the inputenc
+	 * package only maps the code point \p c to a command, it does not
+	 * make this command available.
+	 */
+	static void validate(char_type c, LaTeXFeatures & features);
 
 private:
 	///
diff --git a/src/output_latex.C b/src/output_latex.C
index 138d560e2c..f1f43f48a5 100644
--- a/src/output_latex.C
+++ b/src/output_latex.C
@@ -292,6 +292,33 @@ TeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Switch file encoding if necessary
+	if (bparams.inputenc == "auto") {
+		// Look ahead for future encoding changes.
+		// We try to output them at the beginning of the paragraph,
+		// since the \inputencoding command is not allowed e.g. in
+		// sections.
+		for (pos_type i = 0; i < pit->size(); ++i) {
+			char_type const c = pit->getChar(i);
+			if (c < 0x80)
+				continue;
+			if (pit->isInset(i))
+				break;
+			// All characters before c are in the ASCII range, and
+			// c is non-ASCII (but no inset), so change the
+			// encoding to that required by the language of c.
+			Encoding const * const encoding =
+				pit->getFontSettings(bparams, i).language()->encoding();
+			if (switchEncoding(os, bparams, false,
+			                   *(runparams.encoding), *encoding) > 0) {
+				runparams.encoding = encoding;
+				os << '\n';
+				texrow.newline();
+			}
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
 	// In an inset with unlimited length (all in one row),
 	// don't allow any special options in the paragraph
 	if (!pit->forceDefaultParagraphs()) {
@@ -563,13 +590,17 @@ void latexParagraphs(Buffer const & buf,
 
 
 int switchEncoding(odocstream & os, BufferParams const & bparams,
-                   Encoding const & oldEnc, Encoding const & newEnc)
+                   bool moving_arg, Encoding const & oldEnc,
+                   Encoding const & newEnc)
 {
 	// FIXME thailatex does not support the inputenc package, so we
 	// ignore switches from/to tis620-0 encoding here. This does of
 	// course only work as long as the non-thai text contains ASCII
 	// only, but it is the best we can do.
-	if ((bparams.inputenc == "auto" || bparams.inputenc == "default") &&
+	// Since the \inputencoding command does not work inside sections
+	// we ignore the encoding switch also in moving arguments.
+	if (((bparams.inputenc == "auto" && !moving_arg) ||
+	     bparams.inputenc == "default") &&
 	    oldEnc.name() != newEnc.name() &&
 	    oldEnc.name() != "ascii" && newEnc.name() != "ascii" &&
 	    oldEnc.name() != "tis620-0" && newEnc.name() != "tis620-0") {
diff --git a/src/output_latex.h b/src/output_latex.h
index ca6618c7a7..ef18a081f3 100644
--- a/src/output_latex.h
+++ b/src/output_latex.h
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ void latexParagraphs(Buffer const & buf,
 /// Switch the encoding of \p os from \p oldEnc to \p newEnc if needed.
 /// \return the number of characters written to \p os.
 int switchEncoding(odocstream & os, BufferParams const & bparams,
-                   Encoding const & oldEnc, Encoding const & newEnc);
+                   bool moving_arg, Encoding const & oldEnc,
+                   Encoding const & newEnc);
 
 } // namespace lyx
 
diff --git a/src/paragraph.C b/src/paragraph.C
index 0e3cb22475..22626a73a5 100644
--- a/src/paragraph.C
+++ b/src/paragraph.C
@@ -1007,9 +1007,6 @@ bool Paragraph::simpleTeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 						    runparams.moving_arg);
 	}
 
-	// Computed only once per paragraph since bparams.encoding() is expensive
-	Encoding const & doc_encoding = bparams.encoding();
-
 	for (pos_type i = 0; i < size(); ++i) {
 		// First char in paragraph or after label?
 		if (i == body_pos) {
@@ -1076,7 +1073,7 @@ bool Paragraph::simpleTeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 
 		// Switch file encoding if necessary
 		int const count = switchEncoding(os, bparams,
-				*(runparams.encoding),
+				runparams.moving_arg, *(runparams.encoding),
 				*(font.language()->encoding()));
 		if (count > 0) {
 			column += count;
@@ -1101,7 +1098,7 @@ bool Paragraph::simpleTeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 			// style->pass_thru is false.
 			if (i != body_pos - 1) {
 				if (pimpl_->simpleTeXBlanks(bparams,
-						doc_encoding, os, texrow,
+						*(runparams.encoding), os, texrow,
 						i, column, font, *style))
 					// A surrogate pair was output. We
 					// must not call simpleTeXSpecialChars
@@ -1117,7 +1114,7 @@ bool Paragraph::simpleTeXOnePar(Buffer const & buf,
 		rp.free_spacing = style->free_spacing;
 		rp.local_font = &font;
 		rp.intitle = style->intitle;
-		pimpl_->simpleTeXSpecialChars(buf, bparams, doc_encoding, os,
+		pimpl_->simpleTeXSpecialChars(buf, bparams, os,
 					texrow, rp, running_font,
 					basefont, outerfont, open_font,
 					runningChangeType, *style, i, column, c);
diff --git a/src/paragraph_pimpl.C b/src/paragraph_pimpl.C
index 5512635377..70b21edfe6 100644
--- a/src/paragraph_pimpl.C
+++ b/src/paragraph_pimpl.C
@@ -58,18 +58,6 @@ special_phrase const special_phrases[] = {
 
 size_t const phrases_nr = sizeof(special_phrases)/sizeof(special_phrase);
 
-
-/// Get the real encoding of a character with font \p font.
-/// doc_encoding == bparams.encoding(), but we use a precomputed variable
-/// since bparams.encoding() is expensive
-inline Encoding const & getEncoding(BufferParams const & bparams,
-		Encoding const & doc_encoding, LyXFont const & font)
-{
-	if (bparams.inputenc == "auto" || bparams.inputenc == "default")
-		return *(font.language()->encoding());
-	return doc_encoding;
-}
-
 } // namespace anon
 
 
@@ -398,7 +386,7 @@ int Paragraph::Pimpl::latexSurrogatePair(odocstream & os, value_type c,
 
 
 bool Paragraph::Pimpl::simpleTeXBlanks(BufferParams const & bparams,
-                                       Encoding const & doc_encoding,
+                                       Encoding const & encoding,
                                        odocstream & os, TexRow & texrow,
                                        pos_type & i,
 				       unsigned int & column,
@@ -412,7 +400,6 @@ bool Paragraph::Pimpl::simpleTeXBlanks(BufferParams const & bparams,
 		char_type next = getChar(i + 1);
 		if (Encodings::isCombiningChar(next)) {
 			// This space has an accent, so we must always output it.
-			Encoding const & encoding = getEncoding(bparams, doc_encoding, font);
 			column += latexSurrogatePair(os, ' ', next, encoding) - 1;
 			++i;
 			return true;
@@ -478,7 +465,6 @@ bool Paragraph::Pimpl::isTextAt(string const & str, pos_type pos) const
 
 void Paragraph::Pimpl::simpleTeXSpecialChars(Buffer const & buf,
 					     BufferParams const & bparams,
-					     Encoding const & doc_encoding,
 					     odocstream & os,
 					     TexRow & texrow,
 					     OutputParams const & runparams,
@@ -738,8 +724,7 @@ void Paragraph::Pimpl::simpleTeXSpecialChars(Buffer const & buf,
 			}
 
 			if (pnr == phrases_nr && c != '\0') {
-				Encoding const & encoding =
-					getEncoding(bparams, doc_encoding, running_font);
+				Encoding const & encoding = *(runparams.encoding);
 				if (i < size() - 1) {
 					char_type next = getChar(i + 1);
 					if (Encodings::isCombiningChar(next)) {
@@ -837,7 +822,6 @@ void Paragraph::Pimpl::validate(LaTeXFeatures & features,
 	}
 
 	// then the contents
-	Encoding const & doc_encoding = bparams.encoding();
 	for (pos_type i = 0; i < size() ; ++i) {
 		for (size_t pnr = 0; pnr < phrases_nr; ++pnr) {
 			if (!special_phrases[pnr].builtin
@@ -846,12 +830,7 @@ void Paragraph::Pimpl::validate(LaTeXFeatures & features,
 				break;
 			}
 		}
-		// We do not need the completely realized font, since we are
-		// only interested in the language, and that is never inherited.
-		// Therefore we can use getFontSettings instead of getFont.
-		LyXFont const & font = owner_->getFontSettings(bparams, i);
-		Encoding const & encoding = getEncoding(bparams, doc_encoding, font);
-		encoding.validate(getChar(i), features);
+		Encodings::validate(getChar(i), features);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/paragraph_pimpl.h b/src/paragraph_pimpl.h
index df899b695d..7d4aba0c58 100644
--- a/src/paragraph_pimpl.h
+++ b/src/paragraph_pimpl.h
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public:
 			     LyXLayout const & style);
 	///
 	void simpleTeXSpecialChars(Buffer const &, BufferParams const &,
-	                           Encoding const &, odocstream &,
+	                           odocstream &,
 	                           TexRow & texrow, OutputParams const &,
 	                           LyXFont & running_font,
 				   LyXFont & basefont,