diff --git a/lib/scripts/fig2pdftex.py b/lib/scripts/fig2pdftex.py
index 19207d107b..6f711bffbc 100644
--- a/lib/scripts/fig2pdftex.py
+++ b/lib/scripts/fig2pdftex.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 #
 
 
-import os, sys, re, locale
+import os, sys, re
 
 
 def runCommand(cmd):
@@ -44,12 +44,7 @@ def runCommand(cmd):
 if len(sys.argv) != 3:
     sys.exit(1)
 
-language, output_encoding = locale.getdefaultlocale()
-if output_encoding == None:
-    output_encoding = 'latin1'
-
-input = unicode(sys.argv[1], 'utf8').encode(output_encoding)
-output = unicode(sys.argv[2], 'utf8').encode(output_encoding)
+input, output = sys.argv[1:]
 
 # Fail silently if the file doesn't exist
 if not os.path.isfile(input):
diff --git a/lib/scripts/fig2pstex.py b/lib/scripts/fig2pstex.py
index c474d1b09d..1a559821a7 100644
--- a/lib/scripts/fig2pstex.py
+++ b/lib/scripts/fig2pstex.py
@@ -27,18 +27,13 @@
 #   the real eps file will be overwritten by a tex file named file.eps.
 #
 
-import os, sys, locale
+import os, sys
 
 # We expect two args, the names of the input and output files.
 if len(sys.argv) != 3:
     sys.exit(1)
 
-language, output_encoding = locale.getdefaultlocale()
-if output_encoding == None:
-    output_encoding = 'latin1'
-
-input = unicode(sys.argv[1], 'utf8').encode(output_encoding)
-output = unicode(sys.argv[2], 'utf8').encode(output_encoding)
+input, output = sys.argv[1:]
 
 # Fail silently if the file doesn't exist
 if not os.path.isfile(input):
diff --git a/src/converter.C b/src/converter.C
index 0cea5a852f..18dddd33dc 100644
--- a/src/converter.C
+++ b/src/converter.C
@@ -426,9 +426,11 @@ bool Converters::convert(Buffer const * buffer,
 			int res;
 			if (conv.original_dir) {
 				Path p(buffer->filePath());
-				res = one.startscript(type, command);
+				res = one.startscript(type,
+					to_filesystem8bit(from_utf8(command)));
 			} else
-				res = one.startscript(type, command);
+				res = one.startscript(type,
+					to_filesystem8bit(from_utf8(command)));
 
 			if (!real_outfile.empty()) {
 				Mover const & mover = getMover(conv.to);
@@ -450,7 +452,8 @@ bool Converters::convert(Buffer const * buffer,
 				string const command2 = script +
 					" < " + quoteName(infile2 + ".out") +
 					" > " + quoteName(logfile);
-				one.startscript(Systemcall::Wait, command2);
+				one.startscript(Systemcall::Wait,
+					to_filesystem8bit(from_utf8(command2)));
 				if (!scanLog(*buffer, command, makeAbsPath(logfile, path), errorList))
 					return false;
 			}
@@ -464,7 +467,7 @@ bool Converters::convert(Buffer const * buffer,
 // it is a document (.lyx) or something else. Same goes for elsewhere.
 					Alert::error(_("Cannot convert file"),
 						bformat(_("An error occurred whilst running %1$s"),
-						from_ascii(command.substr(0, 50))));
+						from_utf8(command.substr(0, 50))));
 				}
 				return false;
 			}
@@ -487,7 +490,7 @@ bool Converters::convert(Buffer const * buffer,
 			if (!mover.rename(FileName(from), FileName(to))) {
 				Alert::error(_("Cannot convert file"),
 					bformat(_("Could not move a temporary directory from %1$s to %2$s."),
-						from_ascii(from), from_ascii(to)));
+						from_utf8(from), from_utf8(to)));
 				return false;
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/support/docstring.C b/src/support/docstring.C
index dd5069acac..a50f3a2b94 100644
--- a/src/support/docstring.C
+++ b/src/support/docstring.C
@@ -125,6 +125,13 @@ docstring const from_filesystem8bit(std::string const & s)
 }
 
 
+std::string const to_filesystem8bit(docstring const & s)
+{
+	QByteArray const encoded = QFile::encodeName(toqstr(s));
+	return std::string(encoded.begin(), encoded.end());
+}
+
+
 bool operator==(lyx::docstring const & l, char const * r)
 {
 	int const len = l.length();
diff --git a/src/support/docstring.h b/src/support/docstring.h
index ec5f4012c9..87c5ed43f2 100644
--- a/src/support/docstring.h
+++ b/src/support/docstring.h
@@ -59,6 +59,9 @@ std::string const to_local8bit(docstring const & s);
 /// convert \p s from the encoding of the file system to ucs4.
 docstring const from_filesystem8bit(std::string const & s);
 
+/// convert \p s from ucs4 to the encoding of the file system.
+std::string const to_filesystem8bit(docstring const & s);
+
 /// Compare a docstring with a C string of ASCII characters
 bool operator==(lyx::docstring const &, char const *);