diff --git a/lib/unicodesymbols b/lib/unicodesymbols
index 353429ebdc..173477fd52 100644
--- a/lib/unicodesymbols
+++ b/lib/unicodesymbols
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 # Known flags:
 # - combining       This is a combining char that will get combined with a base char
 # - force           Always output replacement command
-# - force=enc1,enc2... Always output replacement command in the specified encodings.
+# - force=enc1;enc2... Always output replacement command in the specified encodings.
 # - mathalpha       This character is considered as a math variable in mathmode
 # - notermination=text Do not terminate this textcommand (by {} or space).
 #                      This is set by default if textcommand ends with }.
diff --git a/src/Encoding.cpp b/src/Encoding.cpp
index be6f93a971..98ad8519ef 100644
--- a/src/Encoding.cpp
+++ b/src/Encoding.cpp
@@ -943,7 +943,7 @@ void Encodings::read(FileName const & encfile, FileName const & symbolsfile)
 				forced.insert(symbol);
 			} else if (prefixIs(flag, "force=")) {
 				vector<string> encodings =
-					getVectorFromString(flag.substr(6));
+					getVectorFromString(flag.substr(6), ";");
 				for (size_t i = 0; i < encodings.size(); ++i)
 					forcedselected[encodings[i]].insert(symbol);
 				info.flags |= CharInfoForceSelected;